Ten Days
by Hirurg
Summary: After ten years, can ten days short days change everything? Tykai, KaiTaka. Parts 11/11, complete.
1. Day One

**Title:** Ten Days

**Rating:** Teen.

**Author/s:** Hirurg, with a lot of help from Bljad.

**Pairings: ** Takao/Kai, Kai/OC, Max/Enrique, Rei/Mao, Kenny/Emily, Hilary/?

**Disclaimer:** Bakuten Shoot Beyblade and all its characters belong to Takao Aoki

**Warnings:** Original Character, who you will absolutely hate, and that's okay because you're suppose to hate him. Implications of mental and mild physical abuse. Angst, a lot of this.

**Author's Note:** Firstly there's a fairly large authors note at the bottom I ask you read when you're done with the chapter, anyway moving on: This story takes place ten years after G Revolution, which puts Takao around 26 and Kai around 28. (by my own preference.) Takao and Kai haven't seen each other in almost as long as it has been since the BEGA incident.

So the question is: _Can ten days really change everything_?

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><p><strong>DAY ONE<strong>

**You've been pulling at the strings playing puppeteer for kings  
>And you've had enough<strong>

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><p>If some stranger had walked up to me ten years ago and told me that in a decade I'd be working on completing my doctor of medicine I would have looked them straight in the eye and asked them if they were insane before laughing it off and telling my friends all about it. Who I'm sure would have all responded the same way, throwing in a few remarks about how they must be mixing me up with someone else, someone smart even. It would have resulted in myself and Hilary likely bickering over her being jealous of my obvious brilliance and skill. It would have likely ended with a picturesque sunset and laughter filtering through the air.<p>

But ten years ago I was admittedly in denial of just how naive I was. Ten years ago I had just won my third world beyblade championship, I was just your typical happy, carefree sixteen year old guy, I had a family I loved dearly, friends I could never forget and I had—.

Eight years ago was when everything changed. I don't think I could ever forget what happened in late spring, I don't even think those new pills that help you forget bad memories would work. Late spring, eight years ago, myself and my friends were preparing for our high school graduation, it was absolutely and truly total bliss. Kenny was preparing to go off to get his engineering and computer science degrees, Hilary going to become a lawyer (what could we say, she was good at arguing), Max was setting off to travel around the world again for leisure and not competition, Rei had already moved back to his village to be with Mao, although they intended after their wedding to move into one of the cities so Rei could study culinary arts and—.

I honestly hadn't the slightest idea what I was going to do, probably something with beyblade, probably just become a coach and help my gramps out with the dojo like I always had.

But then my brother Hiro got sick, and my entire world was flipped upside down. When I say he got sick I don't mean he got a bad cold, or the flu or any of that stuff, no he got something called Acute myelogenous leukemia, it's a nasty kind of cancer, the five year survival rate is only about 40%. Hiro fought but after only about five months he couldn't fight anymore and he passed away. I spent all five months by his side, and in those five months I came to realize that as much as I loved beyblade as much as it was an amazing part of my childhood, I needed to let it go, I needed to stop holding onto my childhood and grow. I couldn't stay where I was while all my friends moved on, and grew up around me. I had to either grow up or be left behind. I had always wanted to help people somehow, teaching kids how to beyblade, had always been a good idea. But ultimately, it had just been the easy way, it wasn't until Hiro's death that I realized that maybe I needed to take a harder path to help people to the degree I truly wanted to.

The day after my brothers funeral I left Japan, without a word.

Suffice to say, I didn't attend Rei and Mao's marriage, nor was I present to see the birth of their daughter. I wasn't there when Kenny graduated from school with not two, but three degree's and got a job for the BBA with his now fiance Emily. I wasn't there when Hilary graduated at the top of her class and got to be the speaker for her graduating class. I wasn't there when Max moved to Italy and met Enrique, becoming the unexpected romance, and I wasn't there when—.

I know, leaving and missing such huge events in my friends lives is out of character right? Maybe out of character for the sixteen year old Takao Kinomiya, but at eighteen years old having just lost my only brother I wasn't the same Takao anymore. I wasn't the same naive boy who believed that the world was innocent and as picturesque as that sunset, no, I had seen the real world, and it looked more like a murky puddle of dirty water contaminated by mankind.

So after my brother died, and I left I found myself in England, where I used all my winnings from beyblading to obtain a visa and improve my marks so I could attend university. And not once did I look back, not once did I let myself look back or contact any of my friends. In fact I did everything I could to avoid them knowing that Kenny would probably use his genius computer skills to try to find me, this included changing my name and my appearance, and guess what? Not one of them ever found me, never. Though—.

You know after all this time it's a mystery what pulled me back to beycity this late spring, almost eight years to the day I left, I found myself walking through the beycity airport, with my suitcases in tow. Perhaps I owed it to all of them, perhaps after all this time I owed them an explanation as to why I would take off like I did, and why I would run away. Perhaps I did, but perhaps I didn't, it's not like they hadn't done the same to me before. I suppose it didn't matter what the reasons behind my return truly were, all that mattered was that for the next ten days I was going to be here, and I was sure that gramps had already told my old friends that I was coming, because let's face it. He couldn't keep his mouth shut about me if his life depended on it.

I was roused from my thoughts when I heard a familiar voice, even after ten years I couldn't forget that happy go lucky voice that was running through the airport calling out my name, I stopped letting go of one of my suitcases and raised my hand to wave at the blonde who was currently charging my way.

"Takao!" He called out again with his happy laugh as he reached me before jumping at me pulling me into a bone crushing hug only Max Mizuhara could give, even though I couldn't see his face, I could tell he was grinning from ear to ear and I lowered my hand to loosely hug him back, after a few minutes like that he pulled away, allowing me to breath properly again the smile never leaving his face he spoke again: "Everyone is so excited to see you again. Even Rei, Mao and Rin are coming to Japan!" He proclaimed grabbing onto my hand and one of my suitcases and pulling me towards the exit.

I couldn't help but laugh too, I suppose some things never change.

"Maxie!" I cried out between laughter as he pulled me as fast as he possibly could, I added between laughter "What's the rush?" With that he slowed his pace, looking back at me and laughing nervously letting go of my hand and scratching the back of his head.

"Sorry Taka, I guess I got carried away, it's been so long! I don't want to waste any moment that you're back!" He looked at me with his bright blue eyes the smile as brilliant as I remembered he spoke again to me, his mood a little more somber.

"I guess most of us thought that you wouldn't be coming back. We all thought you'd pulled a Kai on a grand scale." I tensed up the minute he said those words, that name. His smile faded and he looked at me with concern not entirely sure what had caused my obvious reaction.

It took me everything to relax and look up at him and smile again, telling him we should get going, because I didn't want to be stuck in the airport all day, he agreed wordlessly and led the way to a waiting car, where I saw Enrique sitting in the drivers seat looking like this was the last place he wanted to be. That was until Max moved to open the door and his attention turned to us, well more specifically to Max, and he smiled, as if this were the only place on earth he belonged.

Man, I was really going to need to ask about how that one happened.

The drive itself wasn't very eventful, it was filled with a lot of chatter about Kenny and Hilary and how we'd be meeting them at the dojo along with chatter about what we'd do for the next week, every few minutes Max and Enrique would give each other a glance and a small smile, and every time I caught them doing it, it made my stomach churn. It's not like I was grossed out about it or anything, I was really happy Max had found someone to be a rock to him, someone who cared about him so much that their entire world became a million times better when he entered their line of sight. No I was absolutely happy Max had found that someone, but at the same time, I hated that he had. Because it was just a blatant reminder of all the things I had left behind eight years ago, after my brothers death.

I must have spaced out at some point because I didn't realize we were at the dojo until the vehicle suddenly came to a full stop and Enrique cut the engine. I looked up blinking a couple times before smiling softly looking at the home I had left all those years ago, it looked almost exactly the same, with the exception of a few new plants and tree's grandpa must have planted after my leaving. I unhooked my seat belt before throwing the car door open and stepping out, I didn't even have time to get the vehicles door shut before I came face to face with angry brown eyes.

"Where the hell have you been, Takao!" Came Hilary's shrill scream as she huffed and put her hands on her hips, glaring at me, I couldn't help but smile, noticing Kenny had moved up to stand beside me looking between nervous and happy, one thing I noticed immediately: He'd gotten a haircut, no longer did he have shaggy hair that fell into his eyes hiding them. He now stood with his hair cut and only his glasses to hide his hazel eyes, it wasn't until I felt Hilary grab onto my cheek and pull that I was removed from my miniature reverie.

"Hey! Cut it out!" I cried grabbing onto her hand and detaching it from my cheek before rubbing at the now angry and soon to be red cheek.

"Well now that I have your attention" She huffed moving her hands to cross over her chest, "Takao Kinomiya, you have a lot of explaining to do." I sighed and looked away from her, sure to avoid eye contact with Kenny and Max as well I found myself staring at Enrique, almost asking him what I should do, what I should say. But who am I kidding, I barely even know Enrique, how could he possibly give me the answers I so desperately needed.

Finally I looked back up at Hilary her eyes were still on fire, still so angry, but I managed to get it in me to speak to her, not that it was the answer she wanted: "Look, Hilary, can it wait for now. I- I want to go visit Hiro first." Her eyes softened almost immediately in realization that I hadn't just left them behind that day, I had left everything and everyone behind, and I hadn't been to Hiro's grave site since the day he was buried. Slowly her hands dropped from their crossed position and she gave me a small nod before speaking to me once more:

"You can go, but I want you back here by 8PM sharp! You aren't getting out of answering my question" Her eyes held that firm determination they had when they were a teenager, and that fire and passion that made her such a perfect lawyer type, I smiled at her in thanks before moving past her without another word to find grandpa and go see Hiro again. I owed him at least one visit.

Grandpa and I didn't have many words to say to each other, he smiled and hugged me saying he was glad to have me home, that he'd missed me, but besides that it was all just wordless understanding. We walked in the warm spring evening to Hiro's resting place, where he stood and I sat for roughly an hour just remembering all the good times I had with my older sibling. I didn't cry, not once even though I had thought I would. As the sun started to dip on the horizon I stood, moving back to the dojo where my friends awaited my return, gramps simply went quietly into the training room, I suppose it still hurt him just as much as it hurt me that my brother was gone. For a minute I felt selfish for leaving him all alone here, I suppose in reality he didn't lose one grandson that late spring eight years ago, but two. But grandpa would never hold it against me that I left, I knew he wouldn't. It's as if without me saying it, he knew that I had needed to go.

Currently Hilary, Kenny, Max, and myself were lounging on the back porch of the dojo, just enjoying the spring air, it wasn't until Hilary sat up looking at the others before myself that I knew it was time for me to answer her earlier questions, finally she spoke out as if to prompt me: "So Takao, where have you been?"

I smiled sheepishly, shifting around on the porch before looking at the trio before me and responding to the question: "Well you see..." I started before trailing off trying to think how to word the answer, or better to explain why I hadn't stayed in contact with any of my friends for eight long years, finally I decided I may as well answer truthfully, instead of trying to justify why I left, and why I hid all traces of myself.

"I've been in England, studying." I said simply all their eyes looked at me in disbelief, as if it were hard to believe the answer were so simple, if it were hard to believe that their friend Takao would just up and leave and not make effort to stay in touch. They were right though, it was hard to believe I would do such a thing... it's hard to believe that there isn't a valid excuse to my absence from the people so dear to my life.

Finally it was Kenny who spoke setting his laptop aside: "You've been studying... like in school?" He asked curiosity shining in his eyes, I grinned at him and nodded my head probably a little too enthusiastically considering Hilary looked like she was about to pass out.

"When I left after Hiro died." I started, looking down at my hands before continuing "I decided I had to go and lead my life by myself and see if I could survive... before I knew it, I found myself in England, I ended up liking the place and staying and enrolling in university." I stopped feeling uncomfortable with all their eyes on me, how strange the feeling, I used to be watched by millions without ever feeling even the smallest bit of pressure or nervousness, now I could hardly look my friends in the eyes.

"I actually... just finished my third year of medical school." I said dryly, mustering up all my strength to look up at them, and what I saw made me burst out in laughter, they all looked like they were fish out of water, they all looked like they had no idea what to say. Their eyes the size of saucers, their jaws dropped, it was a sight to see. It was Max who broke me out of my fits of laughter.

"...Wow, Takao, I never thought you had it in you." He looked at me a glint in his eyes and the other two nodded in agreement with Max, who then broke out in his huge intoxicating grin. I returned the smile, the others did too, next thing I know we're having this massively sappy group hug, all smiles and laughter and you know what? It was like I had never left, and it was like all my worries had melted away because I knew, I had the most amazing of friends, and I knew they'd always forgive me for the stupid stuff I did, and I made the decision then under the setting sun and shining stars, in that warm late spring night that I wouldn't leave again without keeping in touch, eight years was just far too long to miss the people you love and not even say a word to them.

And just as fast as the magic of the reunion occurred, it was broken, by the one voice that I dreaded more than anything in the world.

"Kinomiya" was all it said, it was simple and harmless enough, but at the same time I knew that voice was promising my a world of pain, and was filled with a world of resentment. I pulled away from the trio before me and slowly turned around to look in the direction the voice had come from. At that moment my eyes met blazing crimson, but the worst part was realizing that he wasn't alone, but beside him stood acid green, the eyes of the person who had taken my most special of people away from me.

What I never mentioned was that once during my stay in England, when I had been in downtown London waiting for a school mate of mine who I was set to have coffee with when I walked into the small cafe I came face to face with a man named Gabriel Sattiay, a man who has travelled to London with his long time lover on business, it had been innocent enough a meeting until I found out just who his lover was.

One of the events I hadn't attended was the first time that he had brought his boyfriend Gabriel to meet everyone, the first time any of the bladebreakers had ever laid eyes on the white blonde Italian.

The last thing I truly remember about him was that he had taken over his grandfathers company and estate and was running the business from Japan so that he could keep his promise to me, the promise that he would never leave.

Ten years ago when I was sixteen and so happy and carefree, I remember how he was the most important person in my life, the most precious person, my rival, my best friend, my first love, my everything.

"Kai."

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><p><strong>But the search ends here where the night is totally clear<strong>

**and your heart is fierce  
>So now you finally know that you control where you go<br>You can steer**

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><p>IT'S FINISHED.<p>

Well... it's actually only just begun but you get the idea.

I don't have a beta. So I'm really, really sorry if there's grammatical errors, I did read it over myself a couple times but I'm not perfect.

So when I started this project I was going to write 10 chapters without a doubt, but I've decided the story although it's ten days will likely be more like 12 chapters for a couple reasons:

1: Some of the days will be really intensive and simply will be too much to put into one chapter.

2: PoV shifting, this story is being written between Takao and Kai's point of view, and I really don't like the idea of writing a chapter and then in the middle changing the point of view, so I decided it would be better to split those days into two.

Also I need to be totally honest even though I've had this idea roughed out and written/rewritten over and over for two years, the ending is still very much in the air, mostly because there are three possible outcomes for this fanfiction, I won't tell you what they are, as the story unfolds they'll become very obvious, but I think when writing this story this time I'm going to follow my heart and my gut wherever it takes me. Even if it's not the ending **I want**. So we'll see!

Anyway! Although I personally don't feel that my writing will ever be good enough to portray the true brilliance of this story and plot, I'm going to really try to make the plot look in typing as amazing as it looks in my head, and I hope it's sufficient enough that it doesn't look like a total train wreck!

Also reviews will push me to actually update this story in a timely manner, so you probably want to do that, maybe, kinda, maybe.

In closing: Thank you so much if you read this.


	2. Day Two

**Title:** Ten Days

**See first chapter for warnings/disclaimer/pairings/etc.**

**A/N:** Few things to mention before I proceed to slam you with Day Two:

1* I fixed a couple grammatical errors, run on sentences and spelling errors this morning, in chapter one, so it should be clear of most of the errors now! (Thank Bljad who proof read it.)

2* Takao may seem out of character in parts of this story, he's not. His base characteristics, the ones that make him who he is, are still there. The fact of the matter is that Takao is ten years older than he was appearing in the beyblade series and in almost all fanfictions, which means I have to add growth to the character. If I had kept him the same way he was at sixteen, it would just be... unrealistic.

Bljad and I both talked about it and we'll probably do a basic break down of Takao's character and post the link on my FF profile before the update for Day Three everyone can see what's different/the same.

3* I said there was going to be an original character you'll hate right? I never really specified why, except that you would? Well no, the reason you'll hate him isn't just because he's in a relationship with Kai... it's much greater an issue. It will come to light in Day Two.

Which is written entirely from Kai's point of view, which I may add he's in a perpetual state of thought all chapter, because I love writing his thoughts.

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><p><strong>DAY TWO<strong>

**So I've got a brand new rubber band for you boy  
>Go on and give it a stretch, I can see you're itching to<br>Frustrations on the boil **

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><p>Yesterday, was undoubtedly a day I would never forget. When I first laid eyes on the small blue haired male that to this day haunted almost my every thought locked in a giant hug with Kenny, Hilary and Max laughing as if he were still sixteen and hadn't left us all those years ago without a word I wanted to do but one thing. Hurt him. It took every ounce of self control I had to maintain my indifferent facade while staring into those midnight eyes his hair and skin illuminated by the fading day. I'm certain had there not been an audience I probably wouldn't have maintained control, I probably would have been sure to make sure he left my presence with a least one bruise.<p>

But I hadn't been able to, nor had I been able to pull him aside to even ask him the one question that played over and over in my mind, the question I had asked myself almost every night for eight long years. _Why. _Ultimately after I heard him utter my name, I had replied to him as I always had before, with a simple "Hn." before moving to find a wall to rest against, closing my eyes and allowing myself to slip into ignoring all of them. I didn't sneak another glance at Kinomiya but I suppose if I had I would have seen him looking upset, because I was sure I heard him mutter quite dejectedly about how things never changed before his attention was once again drawn to Max and the others.

I felt Gabriel move to stand beside me, I cracked one eye open to see his smile, the smile I had grown to detest before he brushed past me continuing towards my friends. My stomach lurched in disgust, I wanted to pull him back to keep him away from them, from Takao but I couldn't bring myself to do it, not knowing what the results would be if I did. I kept my eye on him the rest of the night while he associated with Takao and the others, pretending he was a decent human being, a facade as well placed at my own indifferent one. At some point in the warm night Enrique had returned, giving me a wary look when he spotted Max sitting beside Gabriel and Takao chatting surprisingly amicably. He tried to mask the underlying emotions but his eyes gave them away, that overwhelming "I told you so." Indeed he had, indeed he had, not that I would ever admit it openly to him that he was right.

I was pulled out of my reverie, if you could call it that by Gabriel's voice while he sat beside me so uncaring, and uninterested in the passers by. He looked at me that disgusting smile gracing his lips before he stood up holding out his hand to me, speaking:

"Your friends flight arrived about ten minutes ago." There wasn't excitement, or happiness, there was nothing in his voice, it was void of all feelings, and I barely heard it over my thoughts screaming at him, for how dare he extend his hand to me in the same way Kinomiya had so many years ago, how dare he even try to replace Kinomiya in my life. But I knew better, he wasn't trying to replace the blue haired male who had changed my life on so many levels, no. Quite the opposite, he was playing with me again, you could tell from those poison coated eyes that this wasn't a kind gesture or an attempt to replace the boy who had for over a decade secretly held my heart in his hands. This was just another mind game he could play, another attempt to get under my skin. Without a word I stood up brushing past his hand shoving my own in my pockets, and moving towards the gate where Rei and his family would be exiting to meet us.

Gabriel's disgusting smile morphing into a knowing grin, another victory for him, I suppose.

I stood by the gate, my supposed love lingering not far behind, preparing his mask of happiness and fondness I was sure, it was when I saw Rei come through the gates and spot me, smiling and waving that I allowed myself the ghost of a smile. Not because I was as happy to see him as I had been Takao, but because his presence meant I didn't have to stand alone by Gabriel Sattiay for a moment longer, when he approached me, his wife and daughter in tow he spoke, quite happily

"It's good to see you Kai." He didn't grab me to hug me, or give me any touch of affection because Rei knew better, he had always known. The only person who could touch me on any level was Takao, with the now exception of Gabriel, at least to those looking in from the outside. I looked up into his golden eyes not really smiling or showing any true emotion to his arrival but I spoke to him finally

"It's good to see you too Rei." Perhaps it was just me regurgitating his response, perhaps the sentiment was lost, perhaps it was empty. Maybe Rei even knew this but he flashed his sharp canines smiling brightly again I'm sure just satisfied that I was actually speaking words and not just giving disgusted looks and grunting. He turned to pick up his daughter, by the time he turned around again the monster had joined us, standing beside me, his white hair giving the illusion of a halo, a halo he surely didn't deserve.

"Hello Rei, Mao." He smiled so serenely, another lie, a lie I had to play along with so no one knew what was happening, so no one knew I had been trapped and tricked, I allowed him to hold onto my arm, clutching it like you see so many women do their lover while walking through a beautiful city. I hated every minute of it, feeling bile rise from my stomach as a result of the false affections. How could I stay in a relationship with a man I detested? Pride, stubbornness, the refusal to let _him_ win. I barely heard the banter between the young family and the Sattiay, I found myself being led out of the airport by my arm, falling into another what you may consider another reverie.

Everyone had taken Kinomiya's disappearance hard, however although I'd never openly admit it had probably hit me the hardest of all. I kept going, remaining strong externally, remaining the cold, collected business type I had allowed myself to become. However internally I was struggling to make heads or tails of the situation. Internally I was trying to figure out who was to blame for him leaving without even uttering a simple word to even his family.

I had never really liked Hiroshi Kinomiya, but I couldn't deny that he was important to Takao on so many levels. I knew his older siblings illness had been eating away at him, but everyday he still smiled that same brilliant smile, never did it dull, never did his eyes deceive him, so upon the older Kinomiya siblings death it rattled me to the core to know what Kinomiya had managed such an amazing mask, how he had managed to hide how much pain he was in. How he never reached out for help from all the people he had given to selflessly. A part of my conscious argued that perhaps he had gotten far too close to me to be able to assume such a flawless mask.

Several months after the blunette's vanishing act I found myself in Italy on business, still trying to keep myself together after a situation that I thoroughly blamed myself for even though there was no justification to do so. I was going though the same old boring motions of meeting with associates in a means to rebuild company reputation abroad when I came face to face with Gabriel Sattiay for the first time. Apparently his family was outrageously rich and pretentious, their investments, and company being valued at an estimated 5-10% of Italy's overall gross national income per year. Making he and his father more wealthy than many entire countries.

When I first met Gabriel Sattiay all I had seen him as was an excellent opportunity. The perfect type of networking to build a positive reputation in Italy and surrounding countries that had also adopted the euro as the primary currency. If I could win over the son, I'd be able to win over the father, so I associated with him, spoke with him, flattered him, but never broke the standard of being a professional. Before I knew it my time in Italy was spent with Gabriel involving myself in playful banter with the man, and although my heart ached for Japan, and the fiery spirit that had left all those months before I found myself able to genuinely numb the pain with the blonde man's company, and so selfishly, I remained in it. Fully planning to return to Italy as soon as possible after making the necessary trips to other countries in Central Europe.

Interestingly enough it was in France that I came across Enrique Giancarle, I intended to give him the proper professional sentiments before moving onto the business at hand, if I wanted to deal with his family and their wealth I would simply do it when I returned to Italy, as it were, I had a meeting with the Polanski patriarch. But the blonde man stopped me, grabbing onto my forearm and looked at me with his pale blue-green eyes when I turned back to him my eyebrows raised inquiringly silently why an aristocrat would display such indecency as to touch someone who did not wish to be touched.

That was when I got my first and only warning about Gabriel.

Enrique had led me to the small cafe Oliver had opened up, sitting me down in the farthest corner from everyone looking at me with a serious face and had warned me, not to allow myself to get so close to the Sattiay heir, and doing so could be the most idiotic mistake of my career if not my life. I had looked at him in mild disbelief, an eyebrow arched ever so slightly and enquired further wondering what kind of bad blood between families would instigate Enrique Giancarle a man who was definitely not a fan of my existence to warn me. However he refused to slander the Sattiay name with any details that if in the wrong hands could lead to his own families turmoil, and we finished our coffee's in silence, the subject dropped.

To this day, I still don't know what it is between Enrique Giancarle and Gabriel Sattiay but whenever I enter a room with Gabriel. His acidic green meet apathetic blue-green and for a second it looks like they're at war, for a moment you can see pure unadulterated hatred for one another. One of the few times the mask Gabriel wears cracks. One of the few times he shows any form of weakness. A weakness I'm glad to know he has, considering my current situation with him. I suppose it's some sick sort of joke that the only person who understands my situation, the only person who can give me any form of empathy is a stranger apathetic to my existence.

Again my musings were interrupted, this time by the loud cry of delight when my eyes finally focused we were back at the Kinomiya dojo and the first thing I saw was Rei and Takao do this almost dramatic run and hug with one another. The cries of delight had been Takao's, of course his voice would be the one pull me from my thoughts. Slowly I exited the car, feeling a pang of jealousy hit my stomach as my former team mates all hugged and celebrated, while Takao held and coddled Rei's daughter, pure bliss evident in his eyes. All I could think was that I wished it was me he held onto so lovingly, that thought seemed to melt into thoughts about how lucky whoever he fell in love with truly was. Whoever he ultimately fell in love with, even though they were totally unknown to me right now, I detested them for their future role in Takao's life.

When I finally and silently joined the group, Kinomiya smiled at me, I didn't miss that it didn't quite reach his eyes, I didn't miss that he hadn't been as comfortable around me as he once was. I couldn't make sense of it, he wasn't any different around Max, it had nothing to do with my relationship... unless it had everything to do with it. I pushed those thoughts out of my head, as it was such a stupid hope to hold onto.

Hilary interrupted the hugs and laughter of the true reunion. Declaring that for old times sake we would go have a picnic by the river, everyone unanimously agreed it was a good idea, as the weather forecast for the next few days called for a significant amount of rain. With that Hilary drug away Mao and Max to assist her with all the needed supplies, but not before Max asked me if I could go get Enrique who was last seen in the behind the dojo taking an important business call. I agreed, only because I could no longer stand the pure smile that graced the lips of my unrequited love as he stood holding onto the four year old girl while Rei hovered close just to be sure Takao in all his clumsiness didn't drop his little girl.

I'd been so lost in that smile, I hadn't even realized the monster was nowhere to be found.

When I turned the corner assuming I'd find Enrique alone talking in Italian on his mobile device as I had found him many times before. However, I didn't find him as alone as I had expected. In fact I found him standing staring directly at Gabriel, not even the slightest hint of fear in his composure. I almost envied his ability to stay in control of himself, the fact that even knowing everything about Gabriel he didn't find the male even remotely scary. It was Gabriel who spoke obviously continuing a conversation I had missed the brunt of, and he spoke in that fake musical voice of his, the voice that made me want to punch him in the face:

"I've told you before not to interfere in my business, Giancarle." It was a threat, you could tell from his eyes it was a threat. He didn't have to utter the words for the threat to exist, I knew it, and Enrique had to know it, what amazed me was his response and the corresponding body language from it.

"And what would your father say if he found you making threats again?" In that very minute Gabriel hesitated, leaving me internally bewildered that the demon who had tortured me for almost seven years now could actually hesitate from such simple words coming out of the taller Italian's mouth, it was a somber reminder that even psychopaths are simply human.

Enrique's attention turned to me, without a word he trekked towards me. I could only assume he was already aware of the plans that had been made for the afternoon. Gabriel turned his head to watch his retreating back but his attention caught on me and he moved towards me. Surely with full intent to punish me later for overhearing a conversation I should have never heard. I knew the minute he brushed by me his skin barely ghosting across mine my guess was as good as correct. Yet a part of me didn't mind, because I got satisfaction in seeing even the slightest shred of humanity, in knowing that at the end of the day, he was still mortal. He wasn't the reincarnation of Dark Dranzer, that though caused me to hesitate, I'm truly unsure why.

Within forty minutes of the confrontation of the two Italian's, I found myself sitting at the river bank letting the spring breeze blow through my hair as I chewed on a simple piece of grass. At first Gabriel had stayed beside me, lingering I'm sure in a way to imply to the new arrivals that we must have some connection that allows him to stay so close to me without me wanting to push him away or something of the sort. However eventually he stood leaving me to my devices content with that I wasn't going anywhere he joined the others as they laughed and joked, I had heard his melodious laugh once before I tuned it out, focusing on only one voice, concerning myself with only one voice.

Currently it seemed from what I gathered from my place at the rivers edge that Max had stolen his bento, dousing it in mayonnaise before stuffing it into his mouth. I hated to admit it but the overly hyper blondes love for mayonnaise would always be one of the few quirks that could bring a smile to my lips, even if only a ghost of one. I closed my eyes, sighing softly and letting the laughter that filtered through the air bring me back to how it used to me. Sure there were additions now, Mao, Rin, Enrique, but nevertheless it was like nothing had really truly changed in the last eight years.

At some point the laughter died down and was replaced with soft chatter I couldn't make out. It wasn't until I felt his presence sit beside me that I allowed my eyes to open and glance over at him. He smiled at me, this time the smile felt more genuine, the smile reached his eyes, a slight sparkle in the midnight blue like stars in a night sky. We sat there for a few moments and I was left curious as to why a certain Italian hadn't come to interrupt the moment until I realized he was trapped in conversation with Mao and Hilary, and silently I thanked their chatty feminine nature because I was sure his skin was crawling just knowing he couldn't ruin the moment for me. Finally after what felt like an eternity sitting with him in out own little private world, much like the one we had experienced in our last world championship he spoke to me:

"You never properly said hello yesterday." I snorted at the remark and I could feel his contagious smile, and I too wanted to smile, however I refrained from doing so knowing very well if I did Sattiay would probably find a way to get over here and ruin the moment, at my first sign of happiness instead I simply tilted my head a little so my eyes met with Takao's before speaking to him in a disinterested voice:

"Yes, but if I had you probably would have had a heart attack, Kinomiya." He laughed at the comment, shaking his head letting his hair fall out of it's loose holder, falling into his face, he stared out over the river speaking again as he threw a rock out into the river, skipping it.

"I suppose you're right. You talking, what a funny prospect." He was still smiling as the rock fell into the rivers deep after several skips. I couldn't totally refrain from cracking an amused smirk from that statement, I know he noticed it because he almost seemed to mimic it before eventually after a minute he spoke again:

"I'm happy to see you again, Kai." His voice was so sincere, so unlike the voice I was used to welcoming me back from business trips, so unlike the voice that had originally dulled the pain of his departure from my life, the voice that eventually became the one thing that made it hurt even more to have lost the person so precious to me. My love life was just another facade like everything else, a ruse that everyone bought into without even one a questioning glance.

I was about to respond to his sentiments but as he was patting around the river bank looking for another rock to throw his hand suddenly came in contact with mine, in that moment there was a jolt through my entire body and all I wanted to do was recoil away from him. I looked away suddenly my hair shadowing my face to hide the formation of what very well could have been a blush. When I glanced at my companion through my hair he looked as if he'd been touched by a ghost and not by myself, it took him a minute to recompose himself enough to finally stand up and rush off mumbling something about helping Hilary pack up because the sun was starting to set. I couldn't understand why he would react so negatively to my touch.

Suddenly the warm spring breeze felt like a winter storm lashing at my skin leaving it red, suddenly I felt as alone as I did that day so long ago on the ice and I realized then and there, just how much of an impact Kinomiya had on my very being.

I stayed frozen in my place as I heard the group of people start to move towards the Dojo, a few of them called my name but I remained in place, I'm sure they took it for my typical moody self, it was when I heard a certain Italian accent say he'd get me that the rest of the group left without another word knowing they'd see us when we returned. He stood there, not saying a word to me, not speaking, not moving, he just stood there, off in the distance waiting.

I had ignored Enrique's warnings to keep a distance between myself and Gabriel, what had started as a form of networking and developed into a way to numb the pain of my loss had turned into some whirlwind romance where I had for a while almost forgotten about who held my heart. For several months of our relationship it had been kind, his eyes soft and caring, he gave me distance when I wanted it but he was always close enough to be at my side if I wanted or needed it. I had truly for a while thought I found someone that I would be able to spend the rest of my life with and not hurt should I ever find Takao again with a lover and children.

But slowly those kind gestures and words started to morph into something sinister, after I had bore my heart to him and told him about things in my past only one person before had ever known his intentions changed from innocent to malicious. Soon his kind touches and sweet comments turned into physical violence and remarks that would over and over again reaffirm how useless I was, words that would manipulate my reactions, control me, play with me and make me hate myself more and more with every passing moment.

Enrique had warned me, and I had ignored his warning as if it weren't important, it was amazing that even though I had refused to listen to him, even though I didn't heed his words nor ever value his opinion that he would stand here by the rivers edge with me, and wait for me, just to give me a few more minutes away from the man who would have something to say once everyone had fallen into slumber later, and although I would never openly express my appreciation I'm sure he knew that I did appreciate his actions. His act of absolute apathy to my existence was ultimately the act that would give me enough time to recompose myself after Takao's accidental touches and inadvertent affections to deal with whatever Gabriel had to dish out later for the obvious reaction I had to someone who wasn't himself.

I suppose what I never said was that, as the days progressed and Gabriel's kindness morphed into maliciousness, I couldn't help but see my grandfather in him.

And I wasn't about to let the old man win again.

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><p><strong>But then I see my damn reflection in your eyeballs<br>And I want nothing more to do with all  
>The things you've made me think I am <strong>

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><p>And now it's extremely apparent why you should hate Gabriel, additionally if anyone can guess what it is between Gabriel and Enrique that they dislike each other so evidently, I will give you major props and maybe some internet cookies. (pun intended) Just be aware that it isn't an ex-romantic situation as that would contradict my design for the MaxEnrique dynamic. (which if you're curious to know about drop a review mentioning it logged in to an FF account and I'll reply and explain it.)

(...or maybe I'll just write a one-shot about it. MOVING ON.)

D-Did I actually finish a second chapter in a timely manner?

I think this will come back to bite me in the ass because Day Three isn't going to be easy to write. I decided post this one right away because I know I'll probably be a week or two before the next update.

Basically, Day Three is where stuff starts _happening, _and it needs to be **perfect.**

Also this chapter is a little longer, well almost 1000 words more than day one, but the first two days are more me setting the plot and general mood of the story. I'm aiming for about 6,000-8,000 words per day/chapter now. (wish me luck, lul.)

Reviews are loved. They really do inspire me to work harder on chapters.

Maybe enough of them will actually make me work a miracle on Day Three. (haha, I can hope.)

Also for those curious about the song lyrics used at the beginning and end of each day I'm putting them all in my profile as I update, but I need to admit right now, they're all by the same artist, whose music is one of the inspirations behind this fanfiction. (The main song also being called: Ten Days)


	3. Day Three

**Title:** Ten Days

**See first chapter for warnings/disclaimer/pairings/etc.**

**A/N:** Day three has been posted due to miracles and VelvetSoulPanda, and you should legitimately thank both of them because this would be nowhere near complete without either.

I posted on my FF profile the link to the break down of Takao's characteristics at 16 vs 26, and why he's **not** out of character.

This was a harder chapter to write because I knew what was suppose to happen and I had to find a way in the day and had to find a way to properly execute it.

It may in a few parts come off cliche, I know, I know. But it was seriously like the only setting appropriate. I mentioned at the end of Day Two this is when stuff starts happening? Yeah, stuff happens.

Also **angst warning**, especially at the end of this chapter.

For day three we've moved back to Takao's point of view.

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><p><strong>DAY THREE<strong>

**I step outside my mind's eye's for a minute.  
>And I look over me like a doctor looking for disease,<br>Or something that could ease the pain. **

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><p>I had meant it when I had told him last night that I was happy to see him again, it took me some time to adjust to that he wasn't alone, but rather with his lover but when I finally managed to get over the bitterness associated with that had I remained in Japan all those years ago I could have stood a chance. I was able to revert back to how we used to be, just as I had with all the others. I suppose it's just like how they say it, if you love someone you have to let them go. I decided if Kai was happy with Gabriel, if he had found that one person just like Max had, then I would be happy for him, because all I wanted was his happiness, even if it were compromising my own happiness.<p>

When I had accidentally brushed against his hand while we sat at the riverbank it had thrown me off guard, I had been simply looking for a rock to throw into the water. I think what was worse was his own reaction, I hadn't missed how he recoiled away from me, as if my touch burnt him, or as if it had disgusted him. I think that was the hardest part of the moment, when I saw him hide his face and move away from me like we were total strangers all I could do was think of some lousy reason to excuse myself and I left him at the rivers edge figuring it'd be for the best to just leave him alone, or to leave him with Gabriel, because who was I kidding, I wasn't an adequate substitute for his lover.

As we moved away from the river towards the dojo he still hadn't moved, I heard Hilary and Max call for him as we left but he stayed in his place, there was a twist in my stomach feeling he was that disgusted by my touches, but how could I blame him? It had been eight years since we'd seen each other, maybe to him we were almost strangers. I had probably violated his trust when I left without a word, I had probably angered him, having the nerve to leave after making him promise to stay around. Maybe I should regret that I had done it, but I just couldn't bring myself to.

Enrique had agreed to wait up for Kai much to most of our surprise, but we all just nodded and walked off without much discussion of the matter, a few thanks were uttered and nothing more before we all made our way towards my home, the stars in the sky starting to hide behind clouds as the sun set. The weather forecast had been right, I thought as I rose from my thoughts moving my head to stare outside at the rain, it looked like it was starting to ebb off to a drizzle, perhaps the end of the storm, perhaps the beginning. Storms were always so unpredictable, it made them such an accurate portrayal of what life truly was.

I woke up early this morning, hard to believe, but I suppose after so many years of 8AM classes it's hard to retain the ability to sleep indefinitely like I once did. As I sat in the kitchen drinking a cup of tea savouring its flavor, while listening to the rain fall outside I saw Gabriel walk out of the room where he and Kai were staying alone, I remembered last night when Kai had returned Gabriel had merely grabbed onto his hand and pulled him away from the rest of us, they weren't seen for the rest of the night. I could make a bet why, there was a twist in my stomach from the idea. I sat in silence, not paying much attention to him as I'm sure he didn't think anyone was awake, when he walked into the small kitchen he smiled at me. I returned the smile as much as I could, he grabbed an apple from where they sat displayed leaning against the counter before he finally spoke:

"Tell Kai when he wakes up I had to leave on business, wont you?" He bit into the apple pushing himself off the table waiting for me to respond to him, I just mustered as brilliant a smile I could and nodded that I would. He seemed content with the answer and he left the dojo without another word. I had to wonder what kind of business would have him leaving the house at six in the morning without informing his lover, but then I realized it was probable that some situation arose suddenly and he got a call, and simple didn't want to wake up Kai, because he was a considerate lover.

The day was a lazy one, with nothing to really do. Kenny was typing away at his laptop, Rei and Mao were discussing something in Chinese, Max was entertaining Rin playing a game of peek-a-boo while Enrique sat within an arms length, Kai was being typical Kai and leaning against a wall, his eyes closed and Hilary had been looking over a case until she suddenly stood up and left the room.

Not long after her leaving the room she returned, walking up to me, I sat up straight to acknowledge her and I smiled before talking to her: "What's up Hilary?" She smiled in return moving to sit down beside me before speaking:

"Well Takao, while the rain had subsided... I was wondering if you'd go and pick up some snacks and stuff for a movie night..." I raised an eyebrow enquiring why she would think it would be a good idea to have me go out into the rain and do something, as if she read my mind she replied: "Well, Max is entertaining Rin, and I don't think Mao and Rei would be okay letting her out of their sight, and well Kenny... good luck getting him away from his chat with Emily." She stopped and laughed a little shaking her head before adding:

"Besides Taka, of all of us, you seem to like the rain the most." She was right, the rain had always been soothing to me, I loved being in the rain, I loved feeling the rain fall onto my soaking me to my bones, it was whimsical.

"Alright, I'll do it." I laughed, sliding my legs off the ledge where I sat and jumping off, moving towards the dojo entrance to grab my jacket and shoes to set off on what internally I decided was a rainy day adventure, one I hadn't had in far too long.

Before I could leave she stopped me though, and my blood ran cold when I heard her talking to him. "Hey Kai, would you go along with Takao, make sure he gets everything, it will probably be too much for him to carry by himself." One thing about Hilary is that you didn't say no to her unless you wanted her to make you feel a whole world of pain, even Kai knew this. Kai pushed off the wall before saying finally:

"Whatever" I saw him hold out his hand for Hilary to hand him the list before walking to meet me at the door not saying a word. Hilary gave us both some knowing look, like she had a fraction of an idea what was going on. I adored the girl, she was a great friend when she wasn't trying to bite your head off, but for once I think she didn't have a clue what was between Kai and I. Truly I had wished she had just let me go alone.

Kai and I walked in the warm rain not uttering a single word to one another the entire way to the Daiei, once we entered the supermarket I looked over at him, grinning nervously and scratching the back of my head before speaking: [1]

"So Er, Kai, should we split up or...?" I couldn't even finish what I was saying before he cut me off, speaking rather rudely I should add:

"Just shut up and follow me, Kinomiya... if you're capable of that." I sighed when I heard him speak so frigidly, I decided it would probably be easy to just listen to him. Not that I was happy about doing it.

I remember when I found out about Hiro being sick, It had been a Sunday afternoon and I had decided to run to the Daiei to pick up some snacks so that Max and I could have a night watching cheesy horror movies before he left Monday for Greece, as I was walking through the supermarket my mobile phone started to ring, when I answered it I figured it would either be Gramps asking me to pick him up something or Hilary calling to scream at me in her harpy like voice. I hadn't expected it to be my dad. I hadn't heard from the man since my sixteenth birthday, but I remember the words he spoke:

"Takao, there's something wrong with Hiro." I still shuddered at the realization my bigger brother would be flying home to stay not because he wanted to be home, but because he was probably dying. You know what they say about cancer, the sooner they find it the better your survival rates are. Acute myeloid leukemia is a much trickier kind of cancer. Acute cancers are rapidly onset, a cancer that can be fatal within months without treatment. It wasn't until he collapsed that they found it. The doctors suspected he'd probably had it for a month or two unaware of it considering the minor symptoms such as fatigue, weight loss, shortness of breath. By the time they started treatment he was already on deaths door, the doctors all knew that, I'm sure my brother did too. He came home immediately to undergo chemotherapy, but all it did was put a temporary stopper in death... the doctors couldn't get it into remission no matter how aggressively they treated it. I suppose I should be grateful he came home, I did get to spend his last five months with him... it did help me realize what I wanted to do with my life, and to not take it for granted.

It still hurt that my father hadn't come to the funeral.

"Kinomiya." The memory was lost when I looked up into those crimson eyes, they still looked irate, at me I'm sure. I didn't know what he wanted from me, I didn't say anything, waiting for him to criticize me like he always used to but instead he simple broke eye contact speaking in a bored tone

"We're done here, stop standing staring off in space so we can pay for this stuff and leave." I nodded and followed him as he turned on his heels and moved towards the cash. At this point I was starting to wonder if he was just irate with having to shop for items with me, or if there was another particular reason behind his grouchy mood. Heh, maybe he was like those feral cats he used to save, maybe he didn't much like water.

As he finished paying, I took some of the bags moving towards the door with him, when we got to the clear glass doors it was obvious that the rain had picked up again, I sighed knowing it would be a long walk in the spilling rain, I had to wonder why we didn't ask Enrique to borrow his car, it seemed Kai and he were on decent terms, at least after last night. Another pang in my gut, jealousy. Without a word Kai started to walk through the downpour, I took off after him trying to keep up with his fast walk without tripping or slipping like the klutz I am at times.

After about five minutes into the twenty minute walk, I decided to try to make conversation with Kai, I couldn't keep wallowing in his silence if I didn't put some effort into making him stop being his typical moody anti-social self. I grinned a little before I spoke

"So how long have you and Enrique been friends?" I waited for an answer, but my hope he'd respond deflated almost immediately, shocking, Kai wasn't answering questions. I had to wonder if this guy had borderline personality disorder, he sure presented the symptoms of it 90% of the time.

"We aren't." He said suddenly pulling me out of my current thoughts of drawing parallels between his attitude and the symptoms of borderline, well that wasn't the answer I had expected.

"But at the river he-"

"Just drop it Kinomiya." He interrupted me, clearly not enjoying where the conversation was going, I made a frustrated noise at his response, once again he was shutting me out, just as he had all those years ago before the ice. A few more minutes in the silence reinforcing that he didn't want talk to me, or associate with me, I snapped.

"You know Kai" I started, bitterness evident in my voice as I stopped walking: "It's been eight goddamn years, and it wouldn't hurt you to answer my simple questions." He stopped walking immediately. I'd likely broken the last straw with that comment, but I didn't care, I was sick of the bullshit he'd given me the last two days. Finally Kai turned around to face me, the glare on his face could have caused any normal person to drop dead I was sure, but all I did was match the glare, equally as infuriated at this point, and never backing down.

The next thing I knew I found myself shoved up against the stone wall of a building, the rain falling and deafening me to the world around me, all I could hear was my heart beating and my body breathing, both good signs considering Kai was royally pissed. When I was able to gather what had just happened I looked up at Kai who was about a foot taller, he was currently holding me up against the wall with his hands, the groceries abandoned on the ground, his jaw was clenched I noticed, that was until he spoke.

"I don't think you have any right to be demanding answers from me, Kinomiya" his voice was so low I almost couldn't hear it over the rain, it was obvious the words were only meant for my ears and no potential passers by. I was about to make a heated and perhaps irrational reply but suddenly a large transportation truck came barrelling down the road, splashing up the collecting water on the road in what would be described as a miniature tsunami, splashing us both, the force caused Kai's hair to flop forward into his face and I couldn't stop myself. I laughed, and I don't mean some small laugh. No, I laughed like a maniac, hysterically even as tears started to form in the corner of my eyes from the laughter, Kai seemed to stare at me for a minute like I was a lunatic, unsure how to respond to my fit.

Slowly his anger and mask seemed to melt away and I found him chuckling as well, we continued to laugh for what felt like another eternity before he loosened his hold on me and I moved to wipe the water from my eyes. The smile returning to my face, I looked back up at him staring into his eyes that no longer held any anger or irritation with me, I couldn't say they were pools of emotion by any means but at least he wasn't showing me obvious disdain since the night before, my thoughts about his eyes were cut short suddenly

"I'm sorry, Kinomiya." I hadn't expected that, I would have never guessed he'd apologize to me, I looked at him totally baffled by his words, eventually he added: "It's just been so long, I never really expected to see you again." He bowed his head, his eyes totally obstructed by his hair

"I guess I just figured if I could act like how it used to be, I wouldn't have to deal with it when you left again." His hands moved from where they were on my shoulders, running down my arms stopping at my wrists, I suddenly became hyper aware of just how close our proximity was, myself pushed up against a stone wall, him holding me there.

"Kai look at me." I said breathlessly and moved one of my hands to brace against the wall when his eyes met mine, he seemed to dip his head almost immediately, I noticed crimson eyes clouded with some emotion I couldn't quite pinpoint, the water from the rain dripped off his face onto mine and as he got closer my eyes fluttered becoming half-lidded. I could feel his breath on my face, slowly I moved pushing off the wall with the hand I used as a brace, moving to stand on my tip toes.

And with a flash of lightning and crack of thunder the spell was broken.

He moved away regaining his composure and looking around, and I fell back into the wall, my head smashing into it, I groaned not quite processing what has just happened between us.

After a few more minutes in the rain, Kai finally spoke again: "Kinomiya, we should probably get back to the dojo and out of the rain, I'm sure as a medical student you know how bad playing in mud puddles is." My eyes fluttered opened and I stopped hitting my head against the stone wall, snorting softly before I pushed myself away from it standing without the support still a little shaky from the situation all I could remark to save my sanity was:

"Who would have guessed the great ice-man has a sense of humour." He half smirks passing me our previously abandoned bags, before without another word turned to make the final trek to the dojo.

By the time we got back we were absolutely drenched, so drenched at even ten seconds in one place left a puddle, I heard footsteps and was about to reprimand Hilary for sending us out into a rainstorm but when I looked up I came face to face with green eyes, Gabriel.

To say the least I froze up as he moved towards Kai grabbing onto his arm and pulling him deeper into my family home, mumbling about how he needed to get dried up before he got sick. Slowly after they were out of my line of sight I moved, removing my shoes and making my way to my room to get a fresh pair of clothes, suddenly feeling like I really needed a shower.

When the warm spray of the shower hit my skin, I just stood there under it trying to make sense of what had happened in the rain just moments ago. That feeling in my stomach came back, but I couldn't determine what emotion this one was, it seemed like since I had returned to Japan all the emotions that tugged at my stomach made me want to do nothing more than cry in frustration or be physically ill. Perhaps my decision to return to beycity had been a bad idea.

I never figured I was gay you know. Sometimes I still don't think I'm gay per se. My attraction to Kai started simple enough, I was drawn to him, because I felt like he needed at least one person who he could rely on, who he could trust. I wanted to be one of his friends, because I wanted to be that person. But I also wanted to be his greatest rival, his competition. I got all of that, and then I was left still feeling totally unsatisfied, it took me a while to realize why I still felt like it wasn't enough. I guess at some point my feelings for my stoic ex-captain had shifted into a crush or romantic feeling, not just the feelings of friendship and great rivalry. I did everything I could to push those feelings to the very bottom, knowing they could destroy our friendship entirely should they get out. Kai certainly wasn't interested in men, and I, was unfortunately male. For a short time I harboured some resentment for being born male and having romantic feelings for another male. But I got over it, c'est la vie right?

I don't know when the water ran cold but when I was awoken from my memories by thunder I noticed it was frigid. Sighing I turned off the water stepping out and drying myself off, putting on some loose pants and a loose white cotton shirt. As I exited the bathroom moving into the living area, drying my hair with the towel, I came face to face with Hilary, who gave me a slight glare

"Takao, we were starting to think you'd drown or something." Max and Rei were behind her and they laughed, I'm sure at the mental image of me drowning in the shower. I snorted at her, throwing the towel over her head and moving past her.

"Sorry, I kinda... dozed off." I scratched my head as she pulled off the towel looking irate and tossing it back at me.

"Typical" She said before adding a tsk, shaking her head and moving towards the group.

"Well! Let's get ready for movies!" She finally added, causing Max to whoop and punch the air, and Rei to crack his Cheshire grin.

After about ten more minutes of bickering and grabbing snacks, the snacks that miraculously survived the rain. We were all situated around the television when Hilary put the first movie in. Right after she did there was a squeal of delight from Mao and unanimous groaning from the rest of us... except Kenny, but we all know he's a sucker for chick flicks even if he would deny it when confronted. After about fifty minutes of pure torture I felt a new presence enter the room, or rather presences. Kai and Gabriel entered and silently sat down away from the rest of us, again the gnawing sensation in my stomach, again the pain and desire to be sick. I ignored it, trying to focus on the cheesy movie on the screen but it didn't make it any better, especially not when I could hear Mao whispering to Hilary about how this was the part when the Hero fell in love with the lead female, along with all the other equally sappy and unrealistic cliches.

I couldn't take it anymore, silently I stood up when I got some questioning looks from my friends I just smiled and said I needed to use the bathroom. I must have left the room far too fast because when I glanced back for a second and met dull blue-green eyes it's like he was giving me an understanding look.

When I got into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door, I leaned against it, trying to get my breathing to even out. I couldn't though, and I turned round placing my back against the door and I slid, slid until I hit the ground, and I pulled my knees up to my chest and I did the only thing I could do, I did the only thing that my body wanted to do. I cried.

What I never said was that I had found out just a few years ago about Kai's relationship I had been filled with pure rage, pure hate, pure jealousy. What I never said was that that late spring night when I decided to pack my things and leave, I had hesitated for a moment before ultimately deciding to push forward because I knew that the feelings I had were entirely unrequited. What I never said was that if I had known I had stood a chance I would have never left Japan eight years ago.

And as tears stung my eyes as they ran down my face dripping onto my arms, all I could think about was him, and that stupid touch at the river that had shaken me to my very core, and that confusing moment in the rain that left me breathless, and how empty I felt every time he pulled away from me.

And I hated myself, and I was disgusted with myself. I hated that even knowing there was another man, someone I was sure loved and deserved Kai more than anything. Another man who Kai loved in return, who he had chosen to be the person he spent his life with, who he travelled with, who he showed off, who he would sneak off to be alone with and always stayed close to. Even knowing that person existed and that Kai had found his most precious of person, still I continued with my horrible thoughts. And I was upset because even though I prided myself in being a selfless caring person I was scum on the earth.

Because I really just wish he had kissed me.

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><p><strong>But nothing cures the hurt you, you bring on by yourself,<br>Just remembering, just remembering how we were.**

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><p>[1] <em>Kabushiki-kaisha Daiē<em> (The Daiei ) is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan.

So when I started this story I had a basic idea of what days things would happen on.

This marks the first day something major happens, this marks the beginning of the progression to the tenth day.

**Warning:** There are without a doubt going to be days that feel like filler. Days where I tie up loose ends and explain how certain characters became romantically involved. This is a plot device because Takao hasn't heard any of these stories as he's been missing for eight years. This is information they're obviously going to tell him over the ten day span.

Chapter Four is going to elaborate a little on Max and Enrique, who I have endearingly dubbed: The odd couple.

(no but seriously I love these two together.)

End Note: **I really do** appreciate peoples reviews, be it a constructive review, a review asking for a fast update, a question about the plot or characters, or just any real comment.

Why? Because it reassures me people are reading the story, and enjoying it to some extent. It's really hard to make heads or tails off seeing lots of hits in the story stats but no reviews. It's disheartening to see as a writer, and I never understood just how disheartening until I started writing.

**Basically I don't want to be one of those authors who has taken over two years to write twelve chapters.**

**PS: **Check out my new short quick one-shot called Shameless and drop a review if you get a chance, it's a very indulgent story if you're a fan of a more... graphic tykai. c; /shameless self promotion


	4. Day Four

**Title:** Ten Days

**See first chapter for warnings/disclaimer/pairings/etc.**

**A/N:** Thank you to **VelvetSoulPanda** and Bljad who are seriously the main reasons I am totally tearing through this story.

**Warning:** Day four is going to be mostly Kai reflecting, flashbacks, and Enrique/Max, with one **tiny** other thing.

I'm going to keep this chapter at an _acceptable_ length, I don't want to drag it on because it's filler but I don't want to it fall dramatically short.

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><p><strong>DAY FOUR<strong>

**A quote and a question on a screen suppressed.  
>I know it's not right 'cause it's a second impression.<strong>

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><p>It was still pouring rain, while I had him pinned up against the cold uneven stone wall his intense blue eyes meeting mine. It was different this time, he wasn't meeting my eyes in a heated glare to match my own pure fury, but I suppose I, myself wasn't glaring. Suddenly he smiled that brilliant smile of his and I found myself absolutely memorized by it, by him. I lowered my head without thinking until we were closer, close enough for our breaths to mingle, for me to feel it on my face. The smile never faded from his lips as his eyes fluttered shut and he stood on his tip toes, letting our lips press into each other as if finally releasing over a decade of pent up passion, emotions, investment, we remained just like that for a few minutes his arms moving from the wall to wrap around my neck before he pulled away, still smiling. I smiled back.<p>

I woke up to the sound of the rain still hitting the roof and the surrounding yard outside the dojo, cursing internally that it had only been a dream and that yesterday hadn't played out that way. Instead it was another tease, more proof I was still holding on to the false hopes he would requite the feelings I had held onto for so long. Groaning nearly inaudibly I sat up in the bed looking over at the alarm clock, quarter to seven. Deciding it was late enough to be awake I slid out of the bed moving towards the bathroom, I was in major need of a shower and a coffee to shake my head of that stupid dream, a dream playing so heavily on something that almost happened.

Had I really almost kissed Takao Kinomiya yesterday? I had, I couldn't even deny it. I wasn't sure if Kinomiya knew what my actions had been about, he seemed totally oblivious to it when I pulled away. However I was In fact sure I had heard him shift in an attempt to get away from my just before the thunder sounded. I had to appreciate the thunder, I had to appreciate that it had brought me back to reality. Had it not I could have done something I knew I would have regretted immediately. I knew I would have destroyed any remains of my friendship with Takao. He'd left last night not long after Gabriel and I entered the room, saying he needed to use the bathroom, but I frowned slightly as he rushed out of the door, getting the feeling it had something to do with the even hours earlier. Perhaps he hadn't been as oblivious as I had hoped, but I couldn't figure it out, because he seemed to shift from one extreme to the next.

He was gone almost far too long and when he reentered Hilary had given him hell over skipping out on the ending over the overly cliche movie ending, he had made some kind of remark about how the sap from the movie had made him sick to his stomach, everyone had laughed it off and we ended up watching some form of action movie afterwards something much more interesting, to the others at least. After we'd watched all the film's and Max and Takao had bantered and fooled around, sure to wreak havoc on at least one of the people in the room, we got ready to make our move to our designated rooms to sleep. We'd all been staying at the dojo 'for old times sake' with the exception of Kenny and Hilary who were staying with their parents not far away. I had never realized how big the house portion of the dojo was and how many bedrooms it contained before as we'd always slept in the dojo part so that Takao's grandfather could sleep without having to come yell at the shenanigans of a bunch of teenage boys. As it were there was enough space for not only Rei, Max and myself, but all the additions. Gabriel had left me alone, probably preparing for his next act of torture and I made my way towards the bedroom not wanting to irritate him tonight, but I was stopped, and when I looked at who had stopped me of course it would be those blue eyes. He simple smiled and said goodnight before he let go of my arm and left without another word, without expecting a reply. Had he stuck around a few seconds longer I would have returned the sentiment.

I winced in the shower coming out of my thoughts and looking down at the hideous bruise on my upper torso, a gift from my lover for the days activities, for that I hadn't been home when he returned, for making him have to act like he cared and get me dried off. I often wondered if the Italian got pleasure from physically and psychologically abusing me. I finished in the shower as hastily as I could, stepping out and drying myself off simply not wanting to look at my own skin, and the marks that remained across it. The marks of a hard life sympathizers would say, but I didn't want their sympathy. And the only person I'd ever accept it from seemed to simply understand when he'd seen the marks all those years ago, and never pressed the matter, or given me a look of sadness and pity. Just another reason I had fallen in love with him.

I moved into the kitchen, towards the coffee machine, one of my few lifelines in this world. I could take anything and everything Gabriel Sattiay had to dish out as long as in the morning I could have a coffee, to me the hot liquid was as relaxing as a cigarette to a smoker, and perhaps equally as addicting. I was sure the day Gabriel denied me that luxury would be the day I commit cold blooded murder. The coffee machine made a beep having finished brewing, I silently poured myself a cup of the hot liquid before moving to sit at the table and savour it. As I was about to take another drink I heard another person enter the kitchen, I cracked open an eye and came face to face with Max, who simply grinned, ruffling his hair he spoke to me:

"Mornin' Kai." he opened the fridge retrieving the juice to get himself a glass, I simply closed my eyes again, my attention focusing back on the mug in my hands. The one good thing about Max was that he didn't need an answer from me, he was perfectly content with my silence, so long as he was allowed to greet me with his cheerful mood. I had no doubts as to why Enrique was drawn to him. Max's personality could be compared to sunshine and rainbows on a bad day. He moved around the kitchen, suddenly he opened his mouth to ask me a question:

"Want some toast Kai?" I shook my head in response, and he didn't press the matter like he may have when we were teenagers. He just stood waiting by the toaster until the toast popped up and after a few minutes I heard him move to sit beside me, not trying to make any conversation he just quietly ate his breakfast. It was almost serene to just be in his presence and not have to force any form of small talk like many of the others did. Max was just another person I would appreciate but never vocally.

I remember when I first found out about Enrique and Max's relationship. I had never imagined when I met up with Enrique months after his warning to do business that I would come face to face with the 1000 watt smile of my old team mate. It was probably the only time I had ever openly asked Max a question about himself, inquiring about how he and the Ex-Playboy Italian had found love in each other. He just looked at me with those shining bright blue eyes, his grin growing and he told me the tale of how he had been travelling around Europe and ended up in Italy where by chance he stumbled across Enrique Giancarle. For old times sake Max had proposed a beybattle, the Italian agreed. After that they had started spending a lot of time together, Enrique helping Max learn the essentials of the language to get him through the city during the busy days with ease as well as moonlighting as a personal guide for Max in the evenings, allowing him to see the beauty of Italy that the brochures didn't show. Max had ended up staying in Italy far longer than he had ever expected just to continue to talk to Enrique and drink in his presence, and as Max had said after that:

"The rest is rust and stardust." I had been absolutely amazed to see such a seemingly innocent boy quote Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita.

I hadn't for a long time understood their relationship, they never kissed or showed affections for each other, there was never any tension or desire between them like you see in most couples. Enrique's eyes would light up when Max came into his sight. Max's smile would get even brighter when he saw Enrique. Their eyes would share some sentiment, some emotion I couldn't quite comprehend.

And then one day in the dead of the night during one of our forced reunions whilst I was trying to drown out my former teams mates, sans one, it hit me. I looked over to see the two of them chatting amicably, and I was able to decipher the emotions in their eyes, and their body language. The relationship was absolutely platonic. There were no sexual desires, no urges, no need to contact. These two human beings were thriving on merely the presence and personality of the other.

That was the first time I had been able to fully understand the feelings I had harboured for Takao Kinomiya when I was a teenager.

I could admit that I did find Takao Kinomiya physically attractive, I even found him appealing from a sexual sense, but those two things hadn't come with the initial feelings and they weren't the draw to him. It was his fiery spirit, his passion, his dedication, his loyalty. It was everything about his character that drew me to my rival and made me feel at home with him. From thereon I had stopped correlating sex and love, and I had Max to thank for that.

My reverie was shattered by conversation in the kitchen, when I opened my eyes I looked over to see midnight hair munching on something that didn't look like breakfast food and chatting happily with Max about how the weather was suppose to clear up tomorrow, and perhaps all of us could go down to the beach pending the temperature. Max was nodding enthusiastically at the idea, I closed my eyes again not wanting to be drug into their conversation but I still listened to it. Taking solace in the happy chatting of the two men. At some point Rei had entered the kitchen with Kenny who must have just arrived from his parents house that stood a couple blocks away and I heard one of their voices sound out about how the gang was all here, how it was just like old times. I'm sure Hilary would have had a seizure if she'd known we'd forgotten her and I was sure the monkey boy was screeching in agony, but the voice was right for the first time in over a decade we felt like the original team who won our first wold championship. I couldn't help but ghost a smile against my coffee mug.

The morning quickly melted into the afternoon and we once again found ourselves lazing around the Kinomiya family dojo, the rain falling heavily but not crushing the atmosphere inside the home. At times the others would break out into playful derision, never meaning the words or insults they threw at one another, it would almost always end in fits of laughter and giggling, and occasionally you'd hear a young voice ask something along the lines of:

"Baba, what's an asshole?" I snickered every time I glanced over to see Rin's big eyes staring up at her father who looked unbelievably nervous while Mao would silently reprimand him her foot tapping and arms cross, eyes blazing a fire parallel to the kind you'd see in the deepest parts of hell. It was always Max to break the young families tension:

"Look Rin, what's this?" The little girl would lose her focus on the question at hand and squeal in delight without fail when she saw the small turtle plush toy, Max would grin at her and they would proceed to play with the various reptilian toys Max seemed to just have on hand. Even at twenty-six that man was such a kid at heart, and I'm sure Rei was internally showering him with praise for it.

I felt Kinomiya sit beside me, I didn't acknowledge his presence but he knew I knew it was him. We'd gotten good at that over the years beyblading, knowing when the other had come into our personal space, I would have given him a smirk to recognize his presence but my stomach hit the floor when I heard him say:

"Gabriel's missing." I hadn't even noticed the snake had managed to creep his way out of the room, and there were two things I didn't like: Being in a room with the man, and letting him out of my sight. I simply shifted and stood up sparing the man of my desires a glance before saying rather unenthusiastically:

"I'll go find him." With that I stalked out of the room, leaving Takao looking more than just a little confused, but as I padded down the corridor I heard him join into conversation with Max and Rin, and I didn't worry anything about having upset him as I had long since come to know the signs Takao showed when something wasn't quite right.

I remembered when Gabriel had first learned of Takao Kinomiya so entirely disinterested in the former world champions existence until the minute he found out that I had been particularly close to him. From thereon he made sure to remind me as often as he could that Takao had probably left and never looked back because of how lousy a friend I really was, so cold, and closed off, and even by some chance should he return to my life it would be long after he had found someone else, someone worth his time, someone who wasn't me. And try as I might to deny those poisonous words that came from my false lovers lips, over time they had become the only true explanation for why he would leave me so suddenly, why he would leave everyone he loved and cherished without warning. Once against I had been consumed by darkness and filled with lies.

I hadn't realized that my feet had taken me to one of the dojo's training rooms until I heard the sound of the elder Kinomiya training, when I saw no sign of the Italian I was about to turn and leave silently but the door of the training room slid closed, and I came face to face with Takao's grandfather, staring me down, none of his normal eccentricity present, no the man was entirely serious. I had only seen him serious three times before. The Russian world championship, Takao's battle against Brooklyn and when his only other grandson had passed away, so it baffled me that he would gaze at me with the same seriousness he had only given so few times before.

I could hear the others voices, I could hear them bickering while the old man stared at me, those eyes seemingly boring holes into my soul, and as the man looked at me his eyes suddenly showing his age, his mortality, his wisdom and he spoke to me:

"You've been different since the reunion started, K-man." I had to hide my surprise, because I didn't understand how a man who had made only two brief appearances in these past four days could have caught that I was any different. I had always prided myself in how perfectly placed my mask was, how flawless the facade, but it seemed like just like how Takao could see right through my, his grandfather could also. I suppose it shouldn't have been a surprise Takao's grandfather was more like a father than his biological father had ever been. Something I had always been jealous of, admittedly.

"Hn." I responded forcing myself to look as bored as possible wanting this conversation to end so I could go back to finding Gabriel before he got into any trouble, or hurt anyone, as I crossed my arms over my chest I had to suppress the desire to wince, having forgotten about the soft tissue damage that lay under my clothing from the formerly mentioned mans twisted sense of love. There was a glint in the old mans eyes as he stared at me. It unnerved me because it was as if Ryuunosuke knew exactly what was going on, it was as if he knew about Gabriel's torment, as if he knew I stayed merely because I couldn't let my grandfather win again, but even more importantly it was as if he knew—.

"You're in love with him." His voice had cut off my thoughts, he had said exactly what I was about to think. A name didn't have to be said between us, we both knew he meant his grandson, Takao. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know how to retort or deny it, so I simply said nothing, that sparkle in his eye seemed to increase and he gave me a big smile, a smile so similar to the shining one that drew me in every time I saw it, the smile I could get lost in. I noticed the elder man put his kendo training sword in the belt of his robe, smile never dwindling and he started towards the door he'd closed only minutes before. He was about to open it but then he stopped to speak:

"You'll get it right this time." He looked over his shoulder with a wry grin before pulling the sliding door open and exiting the room, leaving me to simply stare at the his retreating back until it disappeared from site.

I suppose I had failed to mention that there had been one other time where he had been a serious as it had been during Takao's two most important beybattles and his older grandsons death, but it was an earnestness that had been well masked by his normal eccentric attitude and use of teenage slang as an attempt to seem hip. I suppose I had never mentioned how after Takao had won against Brooklyn all those years ago he looked over at me with the same glint he had presented today and spoke to me in a cryptic voice giving me only one piece of advice, a piece of advice I would toss aside carelessly along with an opportunity out of fear, and out of my own idiocy that I simply missed the implications in it.

"Seize the moment, Kai."

But I hadn't understood, and in turn I had let the most important person in my entire life slip away.

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><p><strong>But I'd rather I taste my desires of Earth <strong>

**and fill my mind with jewels for all they are worth  
>than discover a diamond decays to a rock and time doesn't turn. <strong>

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><p>Sorry about the wait... well it wasn't much of a wait but still.<p>

I needed to take a break and I pulled a neck and back muscle so I took my time.

Short is short is 3500 words, and I am sorry for that.

For anyone wondering, Yes: Kai did misinterpret Takao pushing off the wall/getting on his tip toes as him moving to get away from Kai. Yep. I never realized I was this excellent an angst writer.

**Day Five** is more filler, but it'll be much more interesting filler. It's going to be lots of details on Rei/Mao/Rin, Emily/Kenny, Hilary and her... romantic interests, some more Max/Enrique from Takao's PoV. It'll also be some details on what Takao has been up to for the last eight years.

Basically they're gonna have an official sit down and talk about it.

And we may get to hear about some of Takao's ex-romances, if you're interested that is.

Okay so, I don't want to be **that guy**, but I'd really like to see some reviews happening, I don't care if it's asking for an update, saying you liked it, criticism, praise, a question, or whatever else. I just know that deep down if I ultimately find myself discouraged because of the lack of feedback, I will either: discontinue, take months to update or flat out sabotage my own story and I'd really rather none of those happened.

But I digress, the **ETA** on Day Five is: April 1st, 2012, and I'll see you then.


	5. Day Five

**Title:** Ten Days

**See first chapter for warnings/disclaimer/pairings/etc.**

**A/N:** I don't have much to say about this chapter, thanks to the people who reviewed last chapter, it was difficult to write day four because filler isn't easy to write from Kai's point of view. However here's the **last** blatant filler chapter in the story, and it's coming from Takao, so it'll be more...detailed.

Far more talking in this chapter than in any others.

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><p><strong>DAY FIVE<strong>

**So next time, when you're leaving,  
>Could you at least leave a note? <strong>

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><p>The rain had cleared up overnight making way for a particularly warm but low humidity morning. It was enough time for the sun to dry the beach up for when we arrived after lunch. The sand wasn't as dry as you normally found but it wouldn't be a problem, it's not like people came to the beach to stay dry anyway. Currently I was standing looking out over the water just letting the warm spring air off the ocean brush my skin and the salt from the ocean fill my senses. I had to admit as much as I didn't like how sand got inexplicably everywhere, I did love the beach. Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by the giggling of a certain happy blonde and the little red haired girls in his arms, I smiled as he, Rin in tow stopped to stand beside me, looking out over the water for a minute too, after a few minutes the blonde grinned widely and asked:<p>

"Planning on going in Taka?" I laughed at him as he set the little girl down and she seemed to scurry up towards her father who wasn't far behind us. Rei picked up his daughter and hugged her watching the two of us with his cat like eyes in anticipation.

"Well..." I started a mischievous glint appearing in my eyes as I looked at Max "I might go in, if you go with me." Before he could react I moved and pushed him into the shallow water, he grabbed onto my hands and we both fell with a splash, we both heard Rin in the background cry out in glee and the proud father laughing as he moved towards our now drenched and laughing beings. He set down Rin in the water never letting go of her hands and she squealed at the waters initial coldness before adjusting and kicking her feet, splashing the two of use even more, and causing out laughter to increase again.

Eventually the laughter subsided and the little girl plopped down into the shallow waters with us, kicking her feet and moving her hands to grab at various shells, rocks and other ocean life. Suddenly her eyes got huge and the four year old grabbed onto an orange and purple coloured rock holding it up for all of us to see she declared in delight:

"Baba I found Kun! I dint know Kun twavelled." She held up the stone to Rei and the man laughed nervously as we looked at him questioning his daughters sanity he looked at us as his little girl waved the rock around.

"A few months ago when we were visiting another village, Rin found a rock with the same colours. She named it Kun." We all laughed looking at the happy little girl as she seemed to be engrossed in having a conversation with her rock friend before she stood up and grabbed her fathers hand pulling him towards Mao the rock still in her hand talking about how she needed to show her mommy. Rei gave us the look of that he'd be back and we waved at him before Max turned his attention back to me

We stood up getting out of the water and brushing as much of the sand off our arms and legs as we could, I was about to turn around and make my way back to the ground but suddenly I heard splashing in the water and the next thing I know I was tackled into the deeper water. It was still quite shallow probably only to our shins but laying down the water almost covered both of us. Max and I lay in the water laughing and splashing each other whist trying to regain our composure. Suddenly we heard Hilary call from where she was further up the beach on the dryer sands for us to stop playing around and come up.

This time we stood up brushing the sand off once more grinning at each other before we both took off towards the group, racing each other to be the first to reach our friends. When I finally got up to the group Max just behind me we sat down on the logs that were strategically placed around a firepit. After a few minutes of lounging and sipping on a soda I suddenly realized everyone was looking at me, and it hit me like a ton of bricks what the intention of this group meeting was. I groaned out loud leaning back slightly and looking around at the group. We were three short. Enrique had left without a word to anyone and Gabriel and Kai had left on urgent business the night before. Hilary had asked if Kai needed her to come along I had been confused, that thought brought me out of my reverie and I spoke deciding if they wanted to have this sappy catch up session I may as well start it.

"Hilary what did you mean when you asked Kai if he needed you to come along?" I was sightly jealous not just that she offered it but because he seemed to for a minute consider it before Gabriel chimed in saying that there was no need for her skills.

"Oh!" Hilary said perking up at the question and I looked over at her, raising an eyebrow at her reaction to the question before I could prompt her to continue she did just that: "When I finished all my schooling to do corporate law, Kai offered me to do some freelance legal work for his company, as he had to fire most of Voltaire's legal staff. Not only was it good experience but it would look good on a resume, and he needed the help." She took a sip of her water looking up at the sky.

"I was happy to do it, and I was sure Kai needed all the help he could get, making Biovolt a legitimate and credible company again. So sometimes when he has important business he has me come along too as I know a lot of the legal information better than he does." She nodded slightly to affirm she was finished telling her little story and suddenly Kenny piped in

"She used to complain about how much she hated Kai for piling so much work on her until she met a certain red head who does the the accounting." he was typing away at his keyboard as he made the comment and Hilary's face went bright red a wicked grin flashed across my face and she seemed to recoil when she heard my voice

"Hilary has a looove interest?" I taunted, smirking when she glared at me: "I feel bad for the poor guy, you'll probably bite his head off over everything." The blush was still prominent on her face, Rei came to her rescue

"I think they're pretty well matched in the biting each others heads off" He snickered and Hilary sprung up and smacked the Neko-jin who begged for forgiveness from her. Once Hilary fully recovered from her minor humiliation she looked at me with fiery eyes and said:

"What about you Takao? Do you have any love interests back in London? Or even better, a girlfriend?" It was my turn to blush, but not nearly as bright red as the brunette had. I shifted a little and sighed, deciding I might as well get it out there.

"I had a girlfriend, but we broke up a few months ago." I said dryly and Hilary looked like she was about to apologize but I stopped her: "Don't worry about it. I'm not grieving about it." That was partially a lie, it still hurt a little that I got dumped, but her reasoning for it had been so weak I couldn't bring myself to be a sobbing mess.

"We met in pre-medical school, we got close, we started dating in our first year of medical school. She started pushing that we should have sex, I told her I wouldn't until we were married, she wanted me to marry her, I said no, she dumped me." I said simply not really acknowledging the wide eyes of all my friends, I rolled my eyes and finished:

"I found out two weeks before I left she was sleeping with my room mate." I shrugged and was taken off guard when Hilary practically latched onto me and hugged me tightly.

"I'm so sorry Takao." She said, and I snorted loudly causing her to pull away and give me a confused look.

"It's nothing really, I'm over it. Promise." I stopped for a minute before turning my attention to Kenny: "So chief how did you and Emily get together?"

The chief blushed right red behind his laptop and continued to type furiously before he suddenly spoke up: "We went to college together. We were in the same classes. We just ended up getting together in college." It was obvious he had no intention to continue but then suddenly Max laughed and jumped up:

"Yeah but then Emily found out about his secret love of Ming-Ming and..." Max was cut off by the brunette boys screech as he moved and covered Max's mouth babbling incoherently about how you must not talk about Ming-Ming, he didn't want to get in trouble with Emily, and how she always seemed to know when the blue haired girl had been mentioned. I watched the brunette boy flail and wrestle with Max as Hilary try to break to two boys up, I shook my head at the scuffle before turning to Rei and Mao.

"Well I already know how you two got together." Rei cracked a small smile as did Mao who sat there with Rin in her lap, I smiled back at the two before I said again: "I suppose it's late but congratulations to both of you." Rei looked over to his wife and then back to me before speaking with his always calm voice

"We really do wish you could have been there with us Takao." I saw Mao nod in agreement, I smiled at them sadly, noting the other three had stopped their scuffle and were quietly listening to our exchange I replied simply:

"I wish I'd been there too." With that we dropped the conversation content by it. It was Mao to bring us all out of our thoughts suddenly standing up and clapping her hands together declaring that it was getting time for us to eat, everyone agreed and the young wife with the help of Hilary served food to all of us. As we chatted about school, work, the weather, and nothing really in particular my heart ached because I wished that Kai had been here with us, it didn't feel quite right without him.

Suddenly all of our attentions were grabbed by a loud scream as we saw a red head came barreling down the beach towards us. I could tell that mop of red hair from anywhere, I suddenly broke out into a grin and stood up but before I had time to react I found myself in a big bear hug, one that could have rivaled the one Max gave me at the airport. When I looked down at the monkey boy who was clinging onto me I patted his back awkwardly, suddenly he looked up at me tears in his eyes and snot running down his nose. Heh, for someone in his twenties he sure acted like he was still twelve.

"Takao you're here." He wailed loudly and I let out an awkward laugh, prying him off of me, I grinned at him before I spoke

"It's been a long time huh Daichi? Or should I say the BBA's new referee." His eyes lit up and he seemed absolutely elated that I had kept tabs on him. I smiled down at the boy who was still quite short even after all these years suddenly the monkey boy wailed out something I hadn't been expecting

"I never got to beybattle you before you left." I could tell every single person besides Daichi wanted to face palm from his remark all I could do was laugh at how typical it was of Daichi. Good old reliable Daichi. When we finally managed to calm the man down Hilary offered him a napkin and he loudly blew his nose out causing her to cringe, I chuckled under my breath before standing up and excusing myself from the group as they chattered and went to sit at the waters edge again.

I could hear Daichi and Kenny talking about the new batch of beybladers and which ones they thought would be the big winners this year. It was funny to think about how less than a decade ago that would have been my entire world, I smiled sadly out over the water, fighting off the urge to shed tears again at the thoughts of what had changed my life. Before I could give in and let them fall however I heard someone sit beside me, when I glanced over I came face to face with Max and his trademark smile, a smile so contagious that it spread to my own face.

He looked out at the water and my gaze returned there also. We sat there for a while not talking and then I suddenly realized when we had been talking earlier I hadn't asked him about Enrique, something I had been meaning to do since I arrived and saw the two together.

"Max, how did you and Enrique become a couple?" I said airily still staring out over the water I heard him laugh from beside me sighing happily before he finally decided to speak:

"When I was in Italy about a year after you left Japan I ran into Enrique. We ended up spending a lot of time together, him showing me around the city... eventually we were just, together you know?" He smiled over at me and I caught his eyes looking at my face. I knew what he meant, it had been that way with my ex-girlfriend, we never had to ask each other out, we had just ended up an item.

"Yeah I know what you mean." I smiled over at my friend and he smiled back listening to ocean. "It was like that with my ex." I added offhandedly noticing the sympathy in his eyes, I rolled mine in response.

"Seriously Max, it's not a big deal, I'm over it. It hurt at first sure but such is life." I looked over at my blonde friend who was still looking at me, the sympathy that had been in his eyes fading away his grin returned and he moved to hug me loosely

"You'll find the person right for you with time." I smiled back at him, looking down and thinking of a certain stoic blue haired business man I had to change my thoughts before a blush crept across my cheeks. I was about to speak to him again but then red hair popped out of nowhere tackling and hugging Max. I couldn't resist smiling when I saw the little girl interacting with my blue eyed best friend who snuggled Rin in his arms. I had no doubts as to why Rei and Mao had agreed to make Max, Rin's godfather. Out of all of the original bladebreakers he was absolutely the best pick. His natural talents with children obvious to this day.

"So when you finish school what are you planning to do?" I was brought out of my thoughts by Max's question as he multi-tasked listening to Rin talk about her pet rock.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure yet, I was thinking about either going into surgical pathology or oncology." I saw him look over at me understanding and he grinned snuggling closer to the little girl in his arms. "What about you Max? Surely you aren't going to just take Enrique for all his money" I laughed at the idea, he did too, Rin didn't seem to understand why we were laughing but she started to giggle herself.

"I'm going to to school and get an education in economics and business to help Enrique when he inherits his families business." I nodded smiling at my friend we went back to staring at the water, watching as the sun started to dip. After what was probably another half an hour Max suddenly shifted the little girl dozing in his arms he spoke saying that we should probably get the others and head home, I nodded standing up and brushing off my pants looking over the water one more time before following my friend.

I said my goodbye's to Daichi knowing it was unlikely I would see him again this week after today and he cried and clung to me. I smiled a hint of sadness in my eyes, I hated to admit it but I had always seen Daichi as a little brother of sorts, an excruciatingly annoying little brother. I promised him I would see him again, and it wouldn't take me eight more years to do so and we finally parted ways, I waved back at him as he stood on the beach waving at us tears in his eyes threatening to spill out. The group of us made our way back to the dojo, to get Rin to bed.

We parted ways with Kenny and Hilary about half way to the Dojo as the two were going to call it an early night and meet up with us in the morning, we agreed leaving just Rei, Mao, Max and myself to walk down the quiet streets. When we arrived at the dojo moving inside Mao led Max to put the little girl to sleep and Rei excused himself to take a shower. I moved further into my family home and my heart sank when I realized Kai and Gabriel still hadn't returned. I sighed and dropped myself into the couch sinking down and pulling my knees up to my chest. When I heard someone enter the room I didn't say anything I just stay there, I peeked out though and noticed it was Enrique who gave me a small courteous smile sitting down beside me far more gracefully than I had. He didn't say anything to me as the others all started to pile back into the living room and I politely excused myself saying I needed a shower after my adventures in the water, sure I was covered in sand, they all understood and said their good nights, knowing that if Hilary intended to meet us early tomorrow, we would be up early and should probably get ourselves to bed.

I suppose what I had never said was that when my ex-girlfriend had left me I hadn't cared as much as I should have considering the relationship had spanned almost three years. I suppose I didn't mention that when she left me I had actually felt a weight off my shoulder like I was free again. What I had never said was that her leaving me had been what inspired me to take the trip back to Japan and reconnect with my old friends... and perhaps old flames. What I had never told Max was that I had already found the one person, that right person and I had found him almost thirteen years ago. What I had never realized was that when I had returned, I had been truly hoping to find him as single as I was, so that I could maybe have a ghost of a chance with him.

And I had decided when she left me, and when I had come back, I had decided that even if he were still with his boyfriend, his lover, I would never choose another. I had decided I would wait. Even if I was directly sabotaging any chances I could have had at happiness with another person in doing so I had made up my mind that first day here as I walked through the airport.

It didn't matter if it never happened, and it didn't matter if it took another thirteen years.

I was going to wait for Kai Hiwatari.

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><p><strong>Next time, when you're leaving,<br>Could you tell us before you go? **

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><p>I surely hope you didn't think I would leave Daichi out entirely. Here's his little bit to the story. I find him a particularly hard character to work with, and in addition that his relationship with the other bladebreakers wasn't as strong as the others relationships with each others are, I decided it would be more fitting to make him a guest and not a consistent part of each day. (can you tell I don't proofread my authors notes?)<p>

And with that: **THE FILLER IS OVER!**

So is anyone as excited for Day Six as I am? I don't think I can begin to explain my excitement for it. Day Six is literally the day that will trigger the rapid progression to the climax of the story.

**ETA** on Day Six will be April 7th, 2012.

Once again I **encourage** reviews they definitely inspire me to write faster. Maybe it you're lucky you'll get the chapter far earlier than the ETA.

Gonna take a break for a couple days before getting Day Six out but while you wait for it, check out the pilot chapter to my new story **Equilibrium** and leave a review voicing your thoughts on it. Also keep a look out for a one-shot and five-shot I'm currently planning out, and remember you can always check my profile for updates, as I keep it up to date with all things going on as well as the status/progress of all my stories.


	6. Day Six, Part One

**Title:** Ten Days

**See first chapter for warnings/disclaimer/pairings/etc.**

**A/N:** If you haven't read the fanfic: "**A Rumor in St. Petersburg**" go and do it, because fuck you that's why.

I have no real authors note for the beginning besides that this chapter is shortish and I avoided all unneeded filler and I'm not really... proud of the results, so let's just get on with it and get it over with.

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><p><strong>DAY SIX-I<strong>

**Hold the answer to the light to see your future  
>Two line, blue line tragedy <strong>

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><p>When I had gotten that call two nights ago calling me to Tokyo immediately I wanted to tell the person on the other line where they could stuff it and stay in beycity to brood indefinitely, but before I could make any remark even remotely like that my phone was seized from my hand by a certain absolutely insane Italian who just smiled at me knowingly before agreeing that we'd depart immediately and be there by sunrise.<p>

Meaning I got to spend almost forty-eight hours alone with Gabriel. Hilary had offered to come along, I wanted to say yes, anything to keep Gabriel from anymore of his antics, anymore of his torment but he gave her his charming smile and told her it wasn't important enough for us to drag her with us and inconvenience her, no it was only worth inconveniencing me. Gabriel said his fake goodbyes and we left the dojo on route to board the days last train, him with what could possibly be a genuine smile from knowing he was in the clear to hurt me properly and myself entirely unimpressed and wanting to simply get it over with as soon as possible and return back.

I'd been actually taken back how silent the Italian had been the entire duration of our trek to Tokyo, not once did he open his mouth to make a snide remark in fact he seemed to lightly doze off where he sat, for the first time in days looking almost human again. I had to force myself to look away, not wanting to get caught and further boost his ego. I growled under my breath reluctantly allowing myself to settle. My eyes closed and I must have fallen into some stage of light sleep, as the next thing I remember I was woken up by a jolting pain through my hand. I snatched the now injured extremity away from Gabriel scowling at him and he merely stared blankly back at me, before he stood up and walked off the train, silently leading the way, it was odd to see him so disinterested in the obvious pain he had caused, I had to wonder what his problem was that caused erratic behaviour.

As we moved through the station in the early morning I was able to pick out distinct red hair and and my jaw clenched. I could only assume if Tala had come to Tokyo to meet up with us in regards to Biovolt he must have found some new horrible secret experiment that my grandfather was funding. Even after it having been almost twelve years since he lost the company and almost eight since I had taken it over, we were still finding various small guerrilla organizations the man had invested hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars into, in addition to aiding in funding various groups that could be considered terror cells and programs training child soldiers. Saying my grandfather was corrupt was an understatement, to say the least. The man was on par with Stalin and Hitler in his villainy.

"What did you find?" I ground out as I walked past my old teammate and he just turned to follow suit, his foot steps falling into sync with my own.

"Nothing you're going to like." Was his simple reply as we moved to exit the station and head towards Biovolt's Tokyo offices, I felt something rise from my stomach into my throat with each step, not looking forward to what surprise the money trails had led to this time.

My reverie was broken by the sounds that filtered through the Kinomiya family dojo. I'd arrived back on my own just a few hours ago. Tala had, in some underhanded way managed to convince Gabriel to stay back much to the Italians dismay for another day to assist him with the specific accounts he was dealing with as he was going to need all of Gabriel's connections. But like the mother hen Tala Valkov seemed to secretly be he shooed my off when I had insisted I, too, should stay behind to help clean up my grandfathers mess. As the red head nearly forced me onto the train he gave me a wolfish grin and he said simply:

"Besides isn't there _someone_ waiting for you in Beycity?" I hated to admit it now but I should have known the Russian had done it intentionally to let me have some time alone with my old team and friends. The doors to the train had closed before I could grab onto the man clearly playing devil's advocate and he waved at me, his blue eyes relaying some form of message I couldn't quite understand. I growled under my breath looking up at the star painted sky from where I sat outside the memory long lost. It was a cooler night then the previous nights had been. It reminded me more of the early autumn and I let my eyes close enjoying the breeze.

My brief trip to Tokyo had only reconfirmed why Voltaire was currently rotting away in prison, not only because of his acts that entailed attempts at world domination but the more and more we looked into the companies spending and activities over the last twenty years the more I felt sick to my stomach at all the money the old man had invested in dirty schemes and war plots. Our latest discovery had been no better. As it turns out my grandfather had been funding the farming of blood diamonds as well as providing groups directly involved with the situation with weaponry. Oh but it didn't stop there, the books revealed additional funding directly aimed towards continuing the conflicts in Africa, and worse off it appeared that Voltaire had profited somewhere around 135million American dollars from the scheme over the span of a decade. Once again Biovolt's accounts would end up frozen and under investigation by interpol no doubt. The organization had been very cordial towards me since my take over of the company, I'm sure more thrilled with my cooperation in further digging my grandfathers grave, I'm sure many of the agents working the case seriously wished Europe still believed in public hangings.

I'm not quite sure when the dojo had fallen silent but I suppose I shouldn't have been so surprised it had been getting late, and the group of teenagers had spent a large portion of the day in the city attending the finals for the Beycity regional beyblade championships for nostalgia's sake, it was funny to think about how only a few years ago that would have been my entire life. I opened by eyes when I heard someones footsteps walking along the deck, I tilted my head looking over into the darkness wondering if one of my friends were still awake or if Gabriel had managed to snake his way out of Tala's company so soon. I could have sighed in relief when I saw Takao walk towards me a small smile on his face as he sat down beside me wordlessly. This was probably the first time I'd ever seen his hair free of the elastic that held it back. I had to stifle my desires to move towards him and run my fingers through it. I was left to wonder when it had started taking all my self control just to sit in his presence without doing something I would later regret.

We sat in a comfortable silence with each other for what felt like an eternity before he finally shifted causing his hair to fall over his shoulders making me notice just how long he'd let it grow out. I had to wonder how on earth he'd gotten through almost all of medical school without being forced to cut the locks. I was brought out of my thoughts by his voice, which I had to note was far more quiet than I was used to:

"So how was Tokyo?" He asked looking over at me with those blue eyes that I was certain could see through my very soul. I ended up having to break eye contact with him before I could even bring myself to speak.

"It certainly wasn't a vacation." I muttered deadpan and I could see the curiosity on his face, I spoke again dryly: "We found more things pertaining to Voltaire's less than honourable deeds." Understanding flashed across his face and he looked down at his hands muttering an apology, something that took me off guard. I surely hadn't been expecting him to give me any form of apology for it.

With that we fell back into silence, a silence that surprisingly wasn't awkward considering the note the conversation ended on. With the silence came another reverie.

When Tala had managed to convince Gabriel to stay due to his available resources which would be absolutely beneficial to dealing with these accounts he'd discovered but also managed to make it known that my presence was unneeded in the situation I saw that glint in Sattiay's eye when he realized we'd be separated for a period of time. When I went to pack my things at the hotel to catch the first train back to beycity, Tala had left us alone in the room, when I'd come face to face with those eyes I knew I was going to pay for this at some point. I hadn't expected him to grab onto my shirt and forcefully throw my into the desk that stood in the corner of the room, it was hard enough to leave a bruise or two. When I recovered from the assault he was standing over me, and the words he uttered before he sent me on my way still rang clearly:

"He wont love you, so don't even think about it."

I shuddered at the memory, and the minute I did so I knew Takao had noticed it, because when my eyes opened and I looked over in his direction he was staring at me with confusion. I was at a loss for words, I had no idea how to explain my sudden reactions so I just sat there, staring at him, and him staring at me, and my stomach lurched because I was certain he was going to enquire about it, concerned and caring as always.

"Kai...?" He mumbled lowly shifting on the deck and moving closer towards me.

"I'm fine Kinomiya." I spoke far more harshly then I had intended and clenched my jaw shut suddenly very aware of how close he'd moved. If he were any closer he'd probably not only be on top of me but I'd be able to smell him. I finally broke eye contact from him looking back up at the starry sky and I heard him sigh. From the corner of my eye I noticed he also averted his gaze upwards.

"It's funny how everything has changed isn't it?" He spoke suddenly, I grunted acknowledging him not moving my gaze from the sky, in fear if I looked at him I wouldn't be able to keep the distance between us, I let my eyes shut again and I listened to my companions breathing, letting the breeze brush my face.

"Who would have guessed that our lives would stray so far away from beyblading, how everything would change like it did. Who would have imagined I'd end up in school to be a doctor and you'd end up some successful business man... in love." My eyes shot open at the tone in his voice on that last word, it wasn't that he'd said it implying that I had Gabriel that caught my intention but rather what I was positive was a hint of bitterness. Over what I couldn't be sure, but it stuck with me, it shook me, it made me rethink the words Gabriel had spoken before I departed Tokyo.

_"He wont love you, so don't even think about it."_

It made me remember that with those words there had been an emotion in his eyes I couldn't identify. And for the first time in so many years it made me actually doubt the poison words that came from that mans mouth, words I should have doubted before this, because Gabriel didn't know Takao, how could he when he simply disregarded the boys presence a presence he couldn't toy with and therefore wasn't worth his time, and if he didn't regard the boy then how could he ever speak for the boy, how could he ever represent the man in any way. How could he even for a minute know who Takao could and couldn't love. I hesitated, trying so hard to push those thoughts from my mind, to remove the hopes I had held onto for so long.

It may have been true, Gabriel could never speak for Takao for certain, he could never know what Takao thought, and who he loved, but Gabriel knew my past, and he knew who I was, and his guess was educated enough in knowing all the times I had betrayed my closest friend that there was no way that person could ever feel something romantic for me, because he couldn't trust me never fully, even if he tried to, even if it seemed like he did. My hands curled into fists and suddenly my day dream broken by a hand that rested on my shoulder. I looked over him and he was staring into my eyes with his own midnight blue ones, looking concerned.

"I never saw myself here." I said suddenly noting the surprise in his eyes. "I never imagined myself taking over a company and travelling the world to deal with the companies dirty laundry. Reporting to interpol about finances when I found out my grandfather had funded conflict diamond schemes and terrorist organizations." I stopped regaining my breath, realizing I had said more to him in a mere seconds then I had in the past five days, I felt a pang of guilt.

"I don't think anyone saw you taking over a company." He said a small smile on his lips moving his hand off my shoulder and leaning back away from me.

"And no one imagined you becoming a doctor either." I retorted not in a malicious way, he smiled at it laughing softly and it caused a smile to appear across my own lips. He shifted again until he was in a kneeling position more of his hair falling over his shoulders and into his face as he continued to look at me before suddenly he averted his eyes looking almost nervous and he laughed confirming the anxiety he seemed to stare at his hands.

"I never imagined you being with someone else besides me either." He muttered under his breath, I froze immediately my mind going into overdrive, had I just heard what I thought I had heard? Had it meant what it sounded like he meant? No, it couldn't have. He had to have meant something else, he had to have meant that it was weird to see me with someone else seemingly closer than I was with him. To see me with different friends, to see us apart and not in our eternal rivalry, that's what it had to mean. It couldn't mean—

"Kai..." He said stopping my frantic thoughts, when he looked back up at me it looked almost like he was ready to cry before he finally spoke again: "I used to feel more for you than just friendship or rivalry." his voice was just loud enough for me to hear, and those words send a chill down my spine, but then I realized exactly what he had said.

_Used to_.

"Takao..." I didn't know what to say to him, I didn't know how to feel about the sudden admission of his past feelings, suddenly being aware of all those lost years. I looked up at the starry sky silently pleading for an answer, finally I looked back at him, not moving away from him, hoping it would encourage him to continue and it must have because he seemed to relax and speak more, funny I hadn't even realized he was tense.

"I-I suppose, I still..." He trailed off before he spoke up again in an attempt to cover up whatever he was beginning to say: "But you and Gabriel and I'm glad for you, and I'm happy you're happy." He looked nervous, I was so caught up on what he had been about to say that I had hardly noticed what he had said.

"You still what Kinomiya?" I snapped out, and he flinched a little at how abrasive my words had sounded, I hated myself for how my words always came out with the wrong tone, I didn't know how to comfort him or reassure him the tone wasn't what I meant so I just shifted slightly, hiding my eyes in my fringe muttering a weak apology to him for it and the world faded back into the nighttime silence.

"I still feel that way." He said suddenly breaking the silence and my eyes snapped upward to meet his own and I could see he was shaking and that there were tears in the corner of his eyes. I could see how nervous he truly was from the admission and I suppose I couldn't blame him. Not only was he admitting romantic feelings towards not just his best friend but another man, but one who he was under the impression was romantically linked to another.

For the first time in a very long time however, I was struck totally speechless.

I barely remember when my body seemed to take control of itself and move without my brain telling it what to do, but the next thing I knew I had grabbed onto Takao's loose white shirt and pulled him forward, I must have caught him off guard because he jerked moving his hands to stop himself from falling over and taking me with him. We were left in what one may consider an awkward position, he was almost sitting on me, his face only a couple inches from my own and I was leaning backwards slightly unable to move forward without invading what little privacy he had left.

He looked confused, he was shaking even more now, I wasn't sure if it was sheer nerves or adrenaline too, I could hear his breath and his heart was racing and I abruptly decided at this point I had nothing to lose, I pulled him closer my hands still grasping onto that cotton shirt until our breaths intermingled, I pulled him downward slowly until our lips met for the first time. Something I had waited almost thirteen years for.

At first he didn't react he was frozen, almost statuesque, but then slowly whatever had frozen him in his place seemed to melt away and his arms moved to wrap around my neck and he leaned forward pressing his lips against my own. One of us made a soft noise, but I wasn't even sure if it was him or me at this point. My hands fell from where they grasped onto his shirt and I moved them to wrap around his middle.

He broke away from the kiss and rested his head against my shoulder his heart was racing and he was panting softly, I in all honesty wasn't in any better shape. We stayed like that for a few minutes and I could feel him ghost his lips along my neck a couple times before he moved into a sitting position, a fog in his eyes seeming to clear up, I let out an annoyed snarl before moving into a sitting position ignoring how he was entirely in my lap and forced him into another kiss, a kiss filled with over a decade of pent up frustration, passion, lust, need, everything.

And for the first time in so many nights, there wasn't anything to mention.

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><p><strong>He brings the medal to the fire for the first time,<br>tells you it's the last time and it will be **

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><p><strong>READ THIS PART TOO: <strong> Important information!

Yes because I am a cruel torturous type of prick I am splitting day six into two parts.

Second part will pick up basically where this chapter left off and then backtrack to reiterate what happened in the sixth day for Takao and the others then it'll skip forward to how the day really ends.

Yes it's going to be a little confusing but I'm setting it up that way to prevent redundancy.

So I wont have to redo the exact conversation leading up to the final part of this chapter from his point of view because that's boring, etc.

ETA is still April 7th 2012, don't worry I wont leave to hanging... too long.

Also just to note I've done some revamping, and to retain the continuity of this story it wont end on twelve chapters but eleven. This wont have any effect on the story itself, just its continuity.

**Final Note**: I just want to get it out there, my ETA's are rarely the actual day that I'm going to be posting the story but rather a fallback day, I try to write stories and get them posted within four days of the last update but my life can be unpredictable and because of that I set a date that gives me a week or more so that I don't set an ETA and miss the deadline causing disappointment.

Now **review this chapter** or I will not update for months... yeah that's right, months.


	7. Day Six, Part Two

**Title:** Ten Days

**See first chapter for warnings/disclaimer/pairings/etc.**

**A/N:** And this might be the second part of the sixth day.

**Warning:** It's short, 3000 words short, I didn't expect it to be this short when I started writing it, and I apologize for its shortness. I decided to upload it asap instead of sitting here wracking my mind trying to lengthen it.

So I guess this is where we find out how the day ends.

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><p><strong>DAY SIX-II<strong>

**'Cause this is the day that everything changes  
>And the world stops turning, running straight,<br>Into the break lights, you've come to nothing **

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><p>This was wrong and I damn well knew it was. But I was so overwhelmed by my own selfish emotions that I didn't know what to do. Kai was in a relationship with someone wasn't he? Gabriel was the love of his life and they'd been together for roughly seven years, and so I couldn't understand why Kai had initiated a kiss between us. But I was so wrapped up in my own desires I didn't think, I wasn't thinking about the other man, no I blissfully let that persons existence vanish into the farthest part of my mind focusing only on the now, only on this, only on us.<p>

At some point we ended up laying down on the deck floor, I was practically straddling him, trying to catch my breath and he was in a similar state. All I could wonder is how did we end up here, on the dojo floor, in a compromising position, making out? I couldn't control the moan that escaped my throat when I felt his fingers ghost over the small of my back, and before I knew he he pulled me down to him, another kiss, another infidelity, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks

This made me the mistress didn't it.

My day hadn't been as bad as my night was progressively becoming. I had woken up with a start, moving through the dojo hoping to see that my former captain had returned from whatever he'd been doing, my mood immediately plummeted when I realized he wasn't back yet, we just didn't feel complete without Kai present. Sure he was usually lousy conversation but he was still apart of the team. I sighed and dropped down onto the couch letting my eyes flutter closed, I slouched down as far as I could, unsure what the plans were for today but not so sure I really wanted to do anything but mope around my house. I did know however that as much as I wanted to do that, Hilary would never allow me to. Not when I was only here four more days before I departed for London.

A smile graced my lips as I thought back to the past days, my smile was happy but it was also sad, because as much as I thought of all the good things that had happened in the past days, I was also stuck remembering all those moments with Kai. The touch at the river, the almost kiss in the rain. One might consider them romantic, hell even I might consider it romantic but every single time I even for a second thought it that my brain seemed to nag at me, reminding me that Kai wasn't alone, he had someone, and that it was wrong. Every time I was left feeling bad about myself, left feeling like a horrible person.

I must have dozed off on the couch because the next thing I remember were my eyes fluttering open to meet Hilary's who was looking at me with a look between irritated and worried, I grinned at her rubbing my eyes and she sat down beside me

"We're getting ready to go soon Takao, you should probably get up and get ready." I nodded groggily and stood up making my way back to my childhood bedroom to make myself suitable for whatever was in store today.

When I finally reemerged I moved into the kitchen following everyone's voices they all look over at me smiling, and I mumbled a greeting sitting down besides Max grabbing for some of the food on the table, noting Rei must have made breakfast. He was the only person of the group willing to cook for us all, with maybe the exception of Mao, but she had Rin to attend to. Finally it was Max who spoke, bringing me out of my own thoughts

"So Hilary, what exactly are we doing today?" He looked around the room with his bright eyes and everyone seemed to make noises asking the same question looking over at the brunette woman.

"Well, it wasn't exactly my idea. Kenny said the beyblade regional finals for beycity were today, I figured we could all go see the new talent, and then go out to eat, like old times." Max's eyes seemed to get bright, Rei's cheshire grin appeared and his daughter clapped shouting "Beybwade! Beybwade!" and I smiled, it would be a nice sentiment, I hadn't seen the beycity stadium in eight years, I had to wonder how much it had changed.

We arrived at Beycity stadium just after lunch, having stopped to eat at a small local restaurant, I'd been shocked that the waitress had recognized me, she'd smiled at me and asked if I was in the area to watch the regional championship, I'd returned her smile and nodded, telling her I'd not been home in quite sometime as I'd been abroad studying. The others had rolled their eyes at the way she looked at me and talked to me, I later realized she'd most definitely been flirting.

When we entered the stadium I almost froze in amazement, over the last eight years the building had changed. Updated with the times for sure. There was state of the art computer technology that had been designed specifically for beyblading by the Chief and Emily, the entire building seemed to be automated. It was absolutely stunning to see the stadium upgrades, I had to say, Kenny sure thought of everything for the sport but still managed to retain the tradition of the game. The technology could improve but in the end you still needed talent and skill to become the best.

I came out of my thoughts when I heard Max speak to Rin who was sitting on his shoulders in a piggy back ride whilst Enrique walked quietly beside my blonde friend. "Just think Rin, in a few more years this will be you." The girl cheered and I grinned, with parents like Rei and Mao, and an uncle like Lee, I had to make bets Rin would be a champion in the making. I felt a small pang, I had to wonder if I would ever be walking through a beystadium to be a spectator for my own child. It seemed so unlikely now, since I had realized that I wasn't interested in just anyone.

We sat in our seats getting comfortable, I was actually a little excited to be able to witness beyblading without competing, as my love for the sport had numbed as I grew up. I couldn't help but laugh a little when I saw the new referee parachute into the stadium in true DJ Jazzman style. Of course Daichi would, he always one for going big despite his small exterior. He must have seen us because he smiled and gave us a short wave before he began to speak into his microphone calling out the finalists. I glanced over at my friends all of them watching the opening contently besides Max who was doing everything he could to keep Rin seated, laughing nervously as she seemed to be about ready to bounce off the walls. He was to blame for that, sneaking sugar into her lunchtime snack. The girl was clearly on a high.

I saw the two boys enter the stadium and the crowd seemed to burst into cheers. I almost smiled when I heard their exchange, obvious rivals in the sport. It reminded me so much of myself and Kai to watch them battle against each other. One so bright and full of determination the other full of raw power and talent, it was like they were shadows of our teenage selves, and I truly wished I had been in Kai's company to witness it. I could just imagine him looking over at me giving me a knowing look and a ghost of a smile, thinking the exact thing I was.

When the battle ended in smoke I suppose I hadn't been so surprised of the outcome. Whilst Kenny stared in total awe that the underdog had taken the regional title and many of the BBA representatives and other young bladers stood frozen from the unexpected win, the stadium silent. It was like it was in slow motion when I heard Enrique chuckle from my left causing me to look over at him curiously, before I heard him speak

"Just like you huh, Kinomiya?" A grin slowly made its way onto my face the curiosity melting away and Enrique gave me a small smile his pale green eyes moving back towards the show, the audience breaking out into cheers after the initial few seconds shock wore off. I couldn't help but smile down at them, my eyes shining brightly.

I must have forgotten how well known I was in Beycity amongst younger bladers, or perhaps amongst the beyblading community in general. I had never associated with anyone who enjoyed the sport in London, choosing to keep my distance from it so that I could focus on studies, distancing myself from people who would only befriend me because of my fame, the fame I had received from a game, a sport I had only partook in for fun. But suddenly one of the two finalists pointed in my direction uttering words that echoed through the entire stadium:

"Isn't that Takao Kinomiya?" The stadium once again fell quiet, until the building seemed to burst out into whispers, excited whispers, and with that I truly wished that I had stayed on Kai's strict training regiment. But then again, I never expected after a decade that I would be running through Beycity stadium being chased by young and older bladers alike, all looking for the person I wasn't anymore, the world champion, the strongest blader alive, the wielder of the sacred spirit dragoon. My friends were on my heels, as we made a break for the exit, I suppose looking back on it, it was quite comedic, especially hearing Rin's loud giggles as she screamed: "Faster baba, faster!"

"I never realized Takao would get so much attention at a beyblade competition, it's been ten years!" Hilary said sitting in her chair at the restaurant still looking exhausted from the chase.

"Well, even though it's been ten years you do have to realize, Takao's beybattles are some of the most monumental in the sport. No one has blown the roof off a place or destroyed an entire building since." Enrique remarked with his Italian lilt, his mouth hidden by his teacup. Hilary blushed bright red seeming to forget my record for destruction in final matches, especially in my last tournament cycle. Max patted her on the back comforting her trying to ignore the glares he was receiving from Mao who had to deal with a very cranky Rin who was experiencing her first ever sugar crash thanks to her godfather. Kenny was sipping on his soda before he spoke

"Yes well, Takao is a fairly historical figure in the sport, but that may change in the coming years if these new bladers are any example of the rest of the worlds talent." We all agreed at that. The finalists battle had been far more grand than my first battle with Kai had ever been. It had taken me three years and a lot of soul searching, determination, training and stubbornness to ever achieve the skills I had. I had been almost sixteen when I was able to literally blow the roof off the joint. These kids were four years younger and already made the building shake.

"If it keeps up like this beyblading it going to be an extreme sport." I said and we all laughed at the idea, but I suppose we all knew it were true. Ten years had passed, and beybladers were more and more talented and powerful much younger, it was only a matter of time before they reached new heights and life or death situations happened in every match, not just when the strongest clashed. For a fleeting moment I thought of Brooklyn and wondered what he was up to these days.

Our food came and we all settled down to eat, making small talk about the day, about the weather, about tomorrow. Mao had finally managed to get Rin to fall asleep and she was now leaning between her parents, her eyes closed looking peaceful. After we'd finished our meals we paid and left, having to almost pry Max away from the establishment before he could eat dessert. The last thing we needed was a sugar high 26 year old. They were admittedly much harder to deal with because they had the rights of an adult and the mind of a child jacked up on sugar. The entire way back to the dojo Max had a pout on his lips and kept giving Enrique puppy dog eyes. Enrique seemed totally immune to the Half-Americans antics.

It wasn't fifteen minutes after we'd returned to my family home that we heard the door open and Kai enter the building. We greeted him but he must have been in a particularly bad mood, as he walked by us without a word moving to the backyard to sit outside. I realized Gabriel wasn't with him, and I noticed a look in Enrique's eyes that I was certain was a mix between relief and happiness. Something I didn't understand. We all lazed around the living room not really talking, the day had been exhausting more because we'd been running for our lives near the end of it. Slowly people started to filter out of the room, Hilary and Kenny taking their leave for the night with intent to meet us the next day, Mao and Rei moving to check on Rin and get some sleep knowing the little girl would probably rise early because she'd fallen asleep so early, Mao had been sure to give Max a scary warning glare before leaving, Max's hand had moved to brush over Enrique's when she did. The three of us sat for a few more minutes before he stood up grabbing Enrique by the hand and pulling him to stand also.

"We should be going to sleep I guess, I'm beat." The blonde yawned for emphasis but I half felt like there was something else in those oceanic eyes I heard him say as he moved Enrique in tow: "Don't stay up too late." I didn't understand what he meant at first, nor did he give me anytime to question him as he pulled his significant other out of the room but it hit me moments later: Kai. I stood up and moved towards the back of the dojo to see where he'd gone off to brood.

And now I was here.

My head resting against Kai's shoulder as his hands ran through my hair, which had long since been freed of the elastic, I was still in a state of confusion by his actions, I couldn't understand his sudden affections. He came back here, alone. He refused to speak seeming particularly moody and now he was showering me with affections meant only for a lover. Had something happened? I had never in my wildest dreams imagined my admission would lead to this, to admit the feelings I had helf onto so long I didn't even know what force had pushed me to do so, but something had. Something deep inside me had forced it out unexpectedly, and now I was trapped in a situation I didn't understand, but as much as I didn't understand it, I knew what I had to do. I moved my head from his shoulder and looked down at him from my position in his lap. He was about to lean up and kiss me again but I moved my hand to stop him before I spoke

"We can't do this Kai." I mumbled and he looked at me with those shocking red eyes, I moved to get up from where I sat, shivering at the cool breeze that hit me, finally I spoke out again: "This can't happen, not when you have him." The flash of emotion in his eyes almost broke my heart but as fast as it happened he seemed to freeze up and avert his gaze. Back to how it always was, back to ignoring everyone surrounding him. The mask was back. I moved away from him, leaving him alone in the backyard getting away from him as fast as I could before the tears spilled from my eyes.

What I never mentioned was how my heart had soared when he'd kissed me, how I'd felt complete for the first time in so many years. What I had never said before I left the back of the dojo was that I had wanted to do this, I had wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the night with him, to spend the rest of my days with him but I couldn't. Not when he had a long term relationship, I couldn't sneak around and pretend it was okay to have relations with a taken man. What I hadn't said was that I had wanted to right then and there make him leave Gabriel Sattiay and fulfil my own selfish desires, but I couldn't because that was wrong.

And because I was fighting so hard to be a good person, fighting so hard against the horrible and selfish person I was slowly realizing I truly was.

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><p><strong>This is the day that everything changes and your worlds collide<br>You know in time you'll wake to find you're a little unbroken.**

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><p>Mmm, beautiful angst I missed you. Thank you Kinomiya for having a moral compass so I could bring this story back around from its recent happy feel.<p>

Anyway, I'm going to be honest. I have no ETA on Day Seven, I know exactly what I'm going to put in it and I likely will start writing it right away but I have literally no inspiration to write anything which means I probably will write it paragraph my paragraph, slowly. It took me everything I had to write this chapter, but I owed everyone the end the day within the ETA I had given. I didn't proofread this chapter fully before posting it if there errors I'll fix them in the next couple days.

I'm still aiming to get this story done by May, and there's only four more chapters, so I likely will get it done. I'm just going to be taking more time because my mood has shifted for the worse as of late.

Anyway, Review please. I can't guarantee reception will inspire or motivate me to get Day Seven done fast, but it will give me some form of reassurance.


	8. Day Seven

**Title:** Ten Days

**See first chapter for warnings/disclaimer/pairings/etc.**

**A/N: **Final progressive piece before the climax.

For those who mentioned Gabriel and his _feelings_ on this whole situation, he wont be making a clear appearance until Day Eight, however Gabriel is still... in this chapter in a sense.

Also fuck long chapters, quality over quantity.

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><p><strong>DAY SEVEN<strong>

**It's not my fault  
>It can't be my fault<br>That you speak to me the way you do **

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><p>I was closed off, as frigid as ice, without restraint shooting glares at anyone who came within a one meter radius of me. All of them knew something was wrong, my collapse into my teenage self made me transparent, no matter how irate and impartial I looked, no matter how impeccable the mask, they all knew. They all looked around, giving each other glances, non-verbally questioning who was going to ask me to either tell them the problem or get the fuck over it. I'm sure all of them were silently wishing Takao was present, the only person who had ever had the nerve to get into my personal space and tear the ice barriers down.<p>

Little did they know, Takao Kinomiya was absolutely 100% the problem.

The night had been bad enough on it's own. It had been bad enough that he had essentially rejected my affections last night, confessed his love and then taken it back like it had been a trick. But in the morning he was his perfectly happy chipper self again, when he'd greeted all of us, when he'd greeted me he'd smiled that smile as if nothing had happened and that had been enough to enrage me. How was it that I was the only one hurting from what had happened? How was I the only one hung up on the situation? How could he smile so brilliantly after the interaction only hours before, acting as if nothing had happened and we were still the best of friends? I'd stayed away from all of them while they chatted the morning away, continuing to play over the night before in my head, play over his words, play over the rejection.

_"We can't do this Kai."_ How. Dare. He? How dare he give me everything I had ever wanted and then take it back? How dare he say we couldn't do it when I had been so obviously content with the idea? I gritted my teeth and kept my eyes closed. I hadn't noticed that he'd left with his grandfather at some point after noon, likely to spend some quality time with the elderly man before he left as he'd spent most of his trip thus far with us.

The intensity of my glare increased when I saw Rei finally approach me, his nerves wavering with each step but he didn't back down, I'm sure more because he knew he couldn't. Finally he moved to stand in front of me, all eyes on us and he spoke out:

"What's wrong Kai? And don't pretend it's nothing we all know it's not." I pushed off the wall and he seemed to shrink back. I was glad that even after a decade I still provoked fear in the Chinese man as well as the others. It made it easier to get them to leave me alone. I didn't say a word to him before I abruptly turned on my heels and left the room, I'm sure leaving him jaw agape in my wake. I heard what I was certain was Hilary huffing as I made my exit from the building.

I moved to sit under a tree in the back of the Kinomiya dojo, enjoying the seclusion, merely not wanting to speak with them. I was simply biding my time for Gabriel to return from Tokyo so we could pack our things and leave, and I was certain that he'd be thrilled at my change in attitude and desire to be as far away from Japan and Kinomiya as possible. I don't know how long I was alone under the tree letting the spring air brush through my hair and touch my face, but after quite sometime I heard someone move to stand beside me and I clenched my jaw suspecting Rei or one of the others had stubbornly followed me out here to reprimand me for my attitude and make me come back and spill out my feelings. I cracked my eyes open and was about to tell them to piss off but when I averted my gaze to where the person stood I stopped when I saw those dull blue-green eyes staring at me. There was a gust of wind and anyone watching could have mistook the situation for a standoff.

"How long?" He said abruptly causing me to raise and eyebrow in confusion at the remark considering its lack of context, his dull eyes never showed any kind of irritation as he moved to sit beside me wordlessly much to my dismay

"How long have you been in love with Kinomiya?" He spoke finally and once again I was left bewildered, as bewildered as I had been with Ryuunosuke had guessed my feelings for his grandson. I was left wondering if I had always been so transparent or if I'd merely not given Enrique enough credit. I was about to remark, something condescending or snarky, denying those feelings in attempt to throw him off but before I could speak he added with his low Italian lilt

"Don't say you aren't, I can see it from miles away. With each contact you and he have you become more and more frigid, more closed off. Your encounter at the river, your adventure into the rain, and then last night..." He trailed off and I cursed mentally realizing he was right, every single time something had happened between Takao and I, my attitude had deteriorated and I'd become more like the sixteen year old they remembered and less like the adult they knew.

"About thirteen years." I said, shocking myself because I had no idea where it had come from, I had no idea what had compelled me to speak those words to a man I didn't much like but who had always aided me in some underhanded way. Be it keeping me silent company or showing me the monster was human.

"I see." He said shifting around where he sat causing me to look in his direction wondering what he was doing or if he was simply getting up to leave and tell everyone inside the residence what I'd confessed too. I was about to threaten him but once again my eyes were caught by pale green and for the first time in almost eight years I saw a serious look on Enrique's face before he finally remarked

"I warned you once and you disregarded it. I thought perhaps you were just as insane a person as he deep down, perhaps you were a match made in some sort of heaven. But these past seven days I've become aware the situation is far more grim then I had originally assumed." For a split second I stopped breathing, hesitated even and I wasn't certain why I would, what in those words could make my breath hitch like it did. Enrique nor his opinion of me had never mattered before, why did it suddenly bother me so much that he was essentially saying those dreaded words: I told you so. When so long ago I would have simply disregarded his entire existence.

"This is your second and last warning, Kai Hiwatari." He said still staring at me, but suddenly it felt like it was staring me down, and no glare I produced would ever match the weight his of his own simple gaze.

"I've known Gabriel since I can remember, from what I understand I was introduced to him at age three." I hadn't been expecting that, I had figured he would tell me the same thing he'd told me in that cafe so long ago, not something that seemed entirely different, something answering all the questions he hadn't so many years ago. I hated to admit it but he had my attention now, he had me intrigued wondering where this could possibly be going.

"I suppose I should explain to you how it is I've known him since he was in diapers." He spoke dryly, I grunted in response a prompt for him to continue, the closest thing to asking I'd ever get. I waited for his response as patiently as I could, whilst I internally calculated their ages and realized that Gabriel would have been around one years old when Enrique was three when. He seemed to contemplate the words to use before he spoke again:

"My parents divorced before my first birthday. When my mother remarried I was adopted by my stepfather Giovanni Giancarle, taking his surname legally." My eyes snapped back to his and I felt a lurch in my stomach because I immediately knew where he was going with this, suddenly I felt entirely stupid for not noticing it before: Their hair, their eyes, their physical builds, their facial structures.

"My birth father is Antonio Sattiay. Making Gabriel my half brother." He finished the train of thought confirming everything I had just realized seconds before. Suddenly making sense of their general attitude towards each other. I spoke for the first time since he's started on the subject trying to sound disinterested but knowing there was some level of intrigue in my voice

"Enlighten me as to what has caused such horrible blood between brothers, Giancarle." I broke eye contact not able to handle the apathetic dull blue-green eyes, eyes that were so like and so unlike Gabriel Sattiay's, his brothers.

"I know you aren't that obtuse Hiwatari. You've lived in his presence for eight years, surely you've seen his attitude towards things, towards people." I simply half nodded at the statement to let him continue, he did:

"My mother still thought highly of my biological father even though the marriage didn't work out. There was always mutual respect between them, when Gabriel was born my mother had felt it would be ideal for me to have a relationship with my half brother as she was unable to have any more children herself..." He trailed off for a minute before he spoke up again:

"My first vivid memory of Gabriel was him drowning one of the kittens his family cat had given birth to a couple weeks prior. He was four, I was six." Enrique finished and my blood ran cold. People had always called me a monster as a child or thought of me as one. Conditioned in my grandfathers image to be some perfect pawn, but suddenly the horrible things I had done in my childhood and teenager years seemed to dull by comparison to my supposed lovers acts.

"He didn't care that he'd done it, Hiwatari. Just like he didn't care when people around him were mysteriously injured, just like he didn't care when animals all throughout our teenage years would go missing only to turn up dead weeks later." Enrique paused as if to let me process what he was saying. I don't know how long we sat in silence. It was a long pause, not because I didn't understand what his words, and not because I was in denial but simply because I didn't have it in me to prompt him to continue, I found myself unable to speak in regards to the situation. He broke the long silence suddenly his voice far more softer than it had originally been, something abnormal for the collected businessman

"I don't think Gabriel is capable of feeling emotions that aren't self fulfilling, Kai. He's a textbook psychopath that I'm certain of, and I know you know it. I know you see it. You aren't an unintelligent person, and surely considering your past experiences with certain family members you have an idea what might happen next." Enrique moved and I felt his eyes leave my face but I still kept my eyes away from his being, focusing on the sun that had almost set at this point, hinting to just how long we'd been out here. Again my stomach lurched because I could only guess what could happen should Gabriel's patience for the Takao situation wear thin.

"Why are you telling me all this, Giancarle? What makes you think that I'll do anything different this time?" I said suddenly shattering the blanket of silence that tortured me more than his words did, I heard him sigh.

"Because it's not hard to tell your facade is merely that Kai." He laughed airily at the remark speaking again almost immediately

"You enjoy my brothers company and presence about as much as I do. I often wonder if the only reason you haven't left the relationship is because you see Voltaire in him." I tensed up when he said those words, my hands curling into fists and my jaw clenching shut I noticed him look over at me and he spoke again

"So that's exactly why then." He let out a noise that sounded like a mix between a laugh and another sigh which caused me to snap my head in his direction and glare at him, wondering if he thought my situation was some kind of practical joke

"Do you honestly think he bested you all those years ago?" Enrique asked simply tilting his head to the side obvious curiosity in those green eyes, giving them the illusion they were brighter than they really were, reminding me for a minute of the bright poison coated ones the sibling had.

And for the first time in a long time I was left to think about it. I had always beat myself up over letting the man win, I'd fallen into his game and proven myself merely a pawn. Abandoned my team for a power that wasn't real. Dark Dranzer was nothing more than a reflection of Dranzer, a parasitic creation that only appeared more powerful because of it's blatant disregard for human and sacred spirit lives alike. Takao had been the one to show me that Dranzer was just as strong if in the right hands, in the hands of a genuinely good person. When I looked back on it if felt very much like in giving up Dranzer I had given up my sense of self, I had truly and undoubtedly become my grandfathers puppet the minute I took possession of the black phoenix. And then when he'd approached me when I was losing against Spencer offering me the monster again, I had still taken her even if I hadn't used her and the sword that day had been double edged, while I didn't give him the satisfaction of watching the evil spirit consume me again with lust for power I had lost, fallen in combat, allowing him the sick satisfaction of seeing me crumble in defeat at the hands of one of his other pawns.

But had he won?

"No." I said abruptly before I could think, but when my brain caught up with me I realized I was right in saying so. Voltaire had lost everything, and he had been locked away in a dark prison cell knowing that while he rot there I could live on free of him and dictate my life however I pleased. I was the sole beneficiary of his company, his entire life's work, as inmates could not legally run or have any ties to a business behind bars. And the old man couldn't do a damn thing about it, he couldn't stop me from ruining his life's work if I so chose, and then it dawned on me, a realization that was perhaps years overdue.

The only way Voltaire could win was if I let him.

"Kai." I heard the Italian lilt to my left and I shifted my gaze towards my companion, a companion I was beginning to disdain less and less with each passing moment. He was looking up at the night sky before he moved his gaze to look at me.

"You have a choice you know. You have every opportunity at your happiness and all you have to do is pick it. Perhaps it's time you stop wallowing in misery and move forward..." I noticed him half smile before his gaze moved to look at the dojo I merely grunted in response to him, and although perhaps it seemed noncommittal I was taking his words to heart, not that I would ever admit it openly, suddenly he spoke again:

"It's your move, what will you do now?" He looked back to me his eyebrow raised, I understood the meaning, our lives were just a game of chess and we controlled the outcome. I chose the victor and the loser, I chose who stood beside me, who my greatest rival was, who my closest friend was, and who my held my heart. I moved to stand up, staring up at the star painted sky before I turned on my heels to walking towards the Kinomiya residence not looking over my shoulder as I responded to his question:

"Seize the moment."

I heard the Italian laugh behind me and I was almost certain if I'd looked back I would have for the first time seen the man give me a genuine smile. I moved quietly through the dojo noticing that the entire building was silent, everyone sleeping most likely. I had to wonder for a mere minute if Gabriel had returned to the dojo in my absence but the curiosity drifted away making way for the question of if Takao had returned yet from where ever he and his grandfather had gotten off to almost twelve hours ago. I moved into the living area noticing it was the only room where a light remain illuminated and when I entered I came face to face with a 1000 watt smile and bright blue eyes.

"Enrique still out back?" Max asked me when I entered the room, I simply nodded in response and his smile seemed to grow, I wasn't entirely surprised that the blonde half-American knew his significant other had been keeping me company. He moved past me heading towards where I had entered the house likely to search for the European man but then he stopped in the door frame before turning back to look at me

"Good luck." He said before he smiled and took off in the direction towards the backyard, and I was left mentally cursing that it appeared Max had been in the loop on the situation from the beginning, I had to wonder if the two had put some planning into the situation I had just experienced with Giancarle, which led me to wonder how much Max knew about Gabriel's true character. I grumbled clearing my head of those thoughts as I moved to the guestroom I found out was still empty.

What I had never said was that I couldn't believe that even for a minute I had considered leaving wordlessly on this very night with Gabriel going back to the world of pain I'd endured for so many years. What I had never mentioned was that internally I was grateful for Enrique Giancarle's perceptive skills as he had sat under that tree with me so casually telling me, an almost stranger, an intimate detail about his personal life. What I'd never said was that I was left wondering if Max had, had something to do with Takao's late night confession to me the night before. What I'd never realized was just how lucky a person I was to have so many people who cared so deeply for me that they would always outreach their hands to save me from the ice, time and time again, through thick and thin, not matter how many times I screwed up or lost my way. Always.

What I had never said was that perhaps Enrique had been right, perhaps it was time I stopped wallowing in all the pain of my past and allow myself to finally allow my mental and emotional growth to catch up with my physical being. To grow, to love, to experience happiness, to choose my own path, to dictate my own life instead of letting another person, or shadow of another person do it for me.

Perhaps, just perhaps it was time to make all the things that had gone so horribly wrong, right.

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><p><strong>Now I'm split in two<br>I'm half me and half you  
>But I hate us both, don't you? <strong>

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> Now everyone knows about Gabriel and Enrique and that pretty awesome/awkward situation between them. Also to make light of it, Gabriel and Enrique have basically turned the ten days into a chess match. Each makes a move more elaborate with each passing day. It's actually an interesting plot point I didn't realize myself until I finished writing Day Six.

With this being said: The climax becomes extremely apparent next chapter and it's Gabriel's move, consider it the last move of the game.

Now, **Review** and all that stuff because reviews are delicious tasting, and maybe feedback will give me that boost to get the last three chapters done.

**Important Note:** I am flat out refusing to update this story if I don't get feedback on it. That is the point of discouraged I am at because of the hit and runners.

I have lost all desire to write at all knowing that readers are so fickle they can't take two minutes to review a fucking story with feedback.

The button is right fucking there, and the least you can do is use it.


	9. Day Eight

**Title:** Ten Days

**See first chapter for warnings/disclaimer/pairings/etc.**

**A/N: **I'M ALIVE!

School and other distractions are to blame for this huge delay, also I had to put... a lot of thought into Gabriel's actions because frankly I'm not a psychopath.

This is probably my least favourite chapter of all, more because of it's content and less because of it's writing.

**Warning:** Proofread by a burnt out college student, meaning lol probably typo's.

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><p><strong>DAY EIGHT<strong>

**And if I listen to, the sound of white,  
>Sometimes I hear your smile, and breathe your light. <strong>

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><p>I hadn't wanted to think about it, I had done everything I could to forget about it whilst my grandfather and I walked down the gravel pathway through the blossoming sakura trees. In retrospect I suppose I should have been perturbed by my grandpa's lack of enthusiasm. Usually an overwhelming eccentric personality whilst he tried to play Casanova to young ladies in the middle of the Hanafubki's. Instead he was quiet, only making small conversation asking me how school had been, asking me how my time home had been. What's worse is that I hadn't even noticed his obvious change in attitude and demeanour. If I had still been sixteen the man would have turned around and whacked me on the head with his Shinai and then lectured me on how I should always know the enemy and notice every minute change in the air around them. I suppose it was a good thing I was no longer fighting evil and saving the world considering my perceptive skills were shot... though it was arguable I ever had them.<p>

In the silence of the park my mind kept fleeting back to the moments I tried so hard to forget, every minute his lips touched my own were ingrained permanently into my head much to my dismay, and every time I thought that the memories had finally slipped away even for just the moment they came rushing back like a freight train. I had been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed my grandfather stop walking until I had long since walked by him and he had called out my name.

"Takao."

My vision snapped up to meet brilliant green eyes and my stomach lurched. I'd been trying my hardest to elude the Italian man since he'd returned from Tokyo sometime in the dead of the night, and I'd done a damn good job of it all day, hiding away from everyone for the duration of the day. Only Max had found me, and he hadn't much to say when he had, after only a small time he left me to my devices. But it seemed that in the late evening I'd gotten sloppy and Kai's lover had managed to find me. My eyes darted frantically around the room looking for someone who could save me from the confrontation I was about to have, but to my dismay we were totally alone, it was hi hands grasping onto my arm a little to roughly that caused my panic to increase, did he know? How could he? Did Kai tell him? I had so many questions swimming through my head as he pulled me away from the living area and towards my own bedroom, somewhere secluded, likely to talk, I wanted to be sick. I was in trouble. I knew I was.

Once we made it into my bedroom he shut the door softly as to prevent people from hearing it before he locked it. With cat like grace one normally would credit Rei for he spun on his heels and stood there staring at me, and those eyes made me further freeze up. After what felt like hours he broke the eye contact looking around my room examining it, likely the first time he'd ever seen it. After he finished his inspection his eyes seemed to come back to stare at me, it was then that he spoke:

"You and Kai are _close_, aren't you?" I caught the emphasis on close when the word slipped from his mouth with his smooth Italian lilt. I had almost no doubts he knew something was up, or that more specifically he knew about the kiss.

"I-I think so, we've been friends for almost thirteen years." I mumbled out, cursing the stammer in my voice. I felt like I'd been caught red handed with the murder weapon, I avoided those eyes, I didn't want to see the looks he was giving me, I was too scared to see them.

"So then perhaps you'd be able to tell me what happened whilst I was gone that has made his mood so sour... or perhaps, _who _happened?" Again emphasizing words, he knew, there was no way he didn't know, and it seemed like he was just pushing me to confess to it versus him calling me out on it. With that thought the flood gates opened.

"It was just a kiss, I didn't mean, and I know it was stupid and I shouldn't have let it happen, I know he has you and you two love each other and..." I trailed off from my babbling, looking down at the floor absolutely ashamed of how horrible I was for what I'd done, the room was silent and all I could hear was my breathing, after a few long moments I chanced a look up at Gabriel. The look on his face I couldn't understand, what he did next I hadn't been expecting.

"I don't understand." He said simply, it brought my eyes to meet his again, his eyes that were so void of all feeling, all emotion, I couldn't find any confusion or sadness in them. They were empty, I was about to open my mouth but he cut my off.

"Why is it, that no matter what I do for him or do to him he still thinks about you day in and out?" Those void eyes slowly began to morph into another emotion I was far more familiar with, but still the emotion seemed so shallow compared to the normal, I heard him laugh almost airily

"It doesn't matter if I'm nice to him, a shoulder to console him or if I beat him into submission he'll still think of you." The voice was so empty it sent a shiver down my spine, not just because the words shed so much light onto Kai's situation but because Gabriel could simply hurt his significant other and not care.

"I don't think beating someone into submission is the best way to go about something, Gabriel." I muttered softly, wincing slightly when I realized he'd heard it, there it was, there was the anger in his eyes, apparent that I'd wounded his pride by pointing something so obvious out, and before I'd even noticed he'd moved towards me and grabbed onto my arm again, with no restraint knowing full well it would hurt, and likely bruise. He all but slammed me into a wall before he spoke again, his voice clearly condescending.

"And how pray tell, should I go about it, oh mighty Takao Kinomiya. He who everyone adores, who everyone forgives even after eight years without even a word." He released my arm from his grip before moving it up to press against my throat firmly. The contact made me panic, and for the first time in a long time I legitimately knew what fear was.

"Nothing to say." He spoke lowly only so I could hear him, all the while I stay frozen against the wall praying he didn't apply any pressure to my neck, savouring every breath I took in, hoping it wasn't my last one.

"How predictable." He moved his hand away from my throat, the smile that graced his face nothing short of sinister and slowly I was starting to realize Kai didn't stay with this man because he loved him, but rather out of sheer terror.

"So is this your idea of romantic Gabriel? Beating someone up and making them fear for their life?" I don't know where the remark came from, I don't know why I said it, for a split second he seemed mildly surprised I had the tenacity to speak against him as I tried to muster a glare he advanced on me again, I expected him to go for the throat again, but instead I found myself be pulled away from the wall and thrown into the open room, I stumbled losing my footing and falling face first into a desk. When I managed to recompose myself I could feel the blood running down my lip and dripping off my chin. I'd lacerated my lip with my own teeth without a doubt. I wasn't thrilled by the idea of stitches.

I'd expected him to make another move on me, I'd been surprised when it never came. I looked over in his direction, trying to ignore the metallic taste in my mouth. He stood there as if he knew that he'd made a mistake this time. Internally I was trying to remember the definition for a person with this mans peculiar psychology but the name eluded me. His eyes seemed to dull from anger to the initial hollow look as we remain staring at each other. Eventually, I stood up realizing as I did I'd gone down hard on my left knee too and it was agitated with the idea of standing. Finally after a few more minutes inspecting myself and determining most of the damage was merely superficial I looked back up at the man who leaned against the wall staring at everything and nothing.

"Gabriel, You can stay for the night but, you need to be gone by tomorrow." I said as firmly a I could, cursing myself for even allowing him to stay another night. The man was clearly dangerous, he could have killed me, and clearly knew and had thought about it. But that genuinely nice, forgiving and hospitable side of myself kicked in immediately and didn't want to leave him out on the streets even if I knew he had enough money to get a hotel. He simply nodded at me and turned to unlock the bedroom door and leave. He paused as he was about to step out of the room and glanced back towards me his hands on the door knob

"I still don't understand." I heard him speak so softly I wasn't even sure if I was imagining it or not, I watched him turn his head to look forward as he left the room, leaving my to attend to my wounds. I moved across the room stopping at the dresser allowing my hands to rest against it to try to ease some of the weight off my sore knee, I looked up into the mirror and hissed softly as I saw the drying blood that had been running down my chin. It was a good sign, lack of continuous bleeding meant it was likely I didn't need to be stitched up. I grabbed onto an old shirt that lay haphazardly across the dresser and wiped off as much of the blood as I could, allowing myself to fall back into my original reverie while the night drifted into the early morning.

"Takao."

I had stopped when my grandfather had called my name out, and spun around to stare at my elder, who was staring back at me with a serious look in his eye.

"Gramps...?" I said looking at him with confusion, I'm sure it was lacing my voice, I watched him shake his head a half smile on his face which furthered my confusion. He moved towards where I stood on the secluded path and stopped in front of me moving his hand to rest on my shoulder he stared into my eyes that soft fatherly look in them he'd always had. After a long time standing in the comfort of each others presence he removed his hand allowing it to fall to his side and he chuckled softly shaking his head again.

"Even after eight years on your own you still don't understand, do you Takao?" His eyes were still soft and full of some unknown sentiment as they stayed fixed on me. I shook my head, not understanding what he was saying, not even sure where this had come from.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Grandpa." I mutter pathetically after a few moments when it became clear he was waiting for a response.

"Silly boy." He said firmly, the softness in his eyes fading away as he moved to swiftly smack me upside the head, I was about to protest but I noticed he'd folded his arms over his chest and was staring at me with the same seriousness he used whilst teaching me kendo as a child.

"Sometimes if you truly want something, you have to fight with everything you've got for it." The elder man finished the statement leaving me bewildered suddenly his entire demeanour changed as he threw and arm over my shoulder and spoke out jovially

"Now let's go find your poor grandfather some pretty ladies, T-man!" He led me down the gravel path not fully letting me process his words as we shifted back into our typical bickering.

I looked back up into the mirror as the memory faded away, looking at my reflection but at nothing in particular about it. There was dried blood on my chin and shirt, and the skin was starting to appear red and purple in colour. It looked like I'd managed to hit myself above my left eye too, narrowly avoiding my temple, as the skin there was also swollen and changing colour. I looked down at the dresser top closing my eyes tightly trying to avoid letting tears fall, not because I was in pain from the injuries but because I didn't know what to do. How could I understand everything so clearly now but still be so frustrated by it? My grandfathers words kept ringing in my ears while the kiss replayed over and over in my head and Gabriel Sattiay's assault lingered on my skin and in the air.

I clenched my jaw letting my fingers curl around the wood the dresser, slowly I looked back up at myself in the mirror only staring for a few moments before I turned around and bolted out of the room not caring how early in the morning it was. I realized as I moved through the dojo as silently as I could when I was moving at near top speed that I had one day to lay everything on the line and fight with everything I had. I realized that I was cutting it closer than I had ever been comfortable with doing and in a way I realized that this was what it was like to be alive.

And what I had never said was that I knew, I couldn't leave Japan without some resolve, without this one moment, the one moment I had needed and longed for for ten years now.

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><p><strong>Yeah if I listen to, the sound of white...<br>You're my mystery. One mystery. My mystery. One mystery.**

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><p>Short chapter is short. The last two (I'm hoping) will be longer, but I have no idea.<p>

For anyone wondering sakura tree's bloom anywhere between January to May depending on location, for the sake of this story, Beycity is going to be more northern, yielding a later bloom, allowing it to fit into the time line properly.

I'll try to get the last chapters done in the next couple weeks, it shouldn't be a problem because I've known what will happen in these last chapters since day two.

**Review**, and I'll try my damnedest to get the last chapters out before May ends.


	10. Day Nine

**Title:** Ten Days

**See first chapter for warnings/disclaimer/pairings/etc.**

**A/N: **The prototypical time line for an angst story brings tragedy in the second last chapter.

I've always questioned what truly defines tragedy.

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><p><strong>DAY NINE<strong>

**'Cause I don't know who I am, who I am without you  
>All I know is that I <span>should<span>  
>And I don't know if I could stand another hand upon you<br>**

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><p>I was almost certain my comprehension skills must have been shot, it was either that or Gabriel had decided on a new method to confuse and terrorize me, and this new method required him to be unnecessarily cryptic over everything he did and every action he made. He came rushing into the room we shared and started to rummage around for something, before his attention snapped to me, and the fact I was still awake. Just as hastily he moved to grab onto my shirt and pulled me to the door before shoving me outside and shutting the door in my face.<p>

As I said: Unnecessarily cryptic.

Somehow in all this I had reverted back to a bad habit I'd picked up in my earlier adult years, a habit I'd only kicked because I had been forced to watch Kinomiya watch his brother die from a disease this habit was known to cause. I took a drag of the cigarette, exhaling with a sigh and shaking my head and looking up at the clear night sky. Takao had spent the greater part of the day avoiding and hiding from everyone, more specifically from myself, and the combination of his avoidance and my confusion of how to address the situation, time was simply ticking away and nothing was being resolved. I sighed quietly again bringing the cigarette to my mouth and breathing the smoke into my lungs.

"You know that's an awfully bad habit to pick up, Kai." I heard him state whilst he walked to stand beside where I sat. I grunted in response, and I heard him move to sit beside me shaking his head before taking the cigarette from where it rested loosely in my left hand and ashing it effortlessly before bringing it to his lips and inhaling.

"I thought you said it was a bad habit, Kinomiya." I watched him exhale into the night sky, the smoke leaving his lungs and dissipating into the night sky and then he let out an airy laugh handing me back the cigarette before speaking

"Sometimes bad habits are the only effective method of bringing down my stress levels and calming my nerves." He stated matter-of-factly causing me to turn my head to look at him. When my brain registered what appeared to be dried blood on his chin that had been haphazardly and carelessly wiped off but not totally removed I felt myself stuck between curiosity and concern.

"What the hell happened to your face Kinomiya?" I questioned, curiosity winning out above all else. I watched his gaze avert from where it had been fixed on the night sky to meet my own gaze and for a minute he seemed to weigh his options, debating how to respond to the question, eventually he spoke dully:

"Your boyfriend happened." The words were simple, but the weight of them was chilling. I suppose it suddenly made sense why Gabriel had been so cryptic when he'd essentially kicked me from the bedroom. However this information led to further confusion as I questioned why Takao hadn't simply thrown Gabriel out of the dojo upon being assaulted by the Italian... or better yet, why hadn't he called the authorities. Kinomiya was a nice person, but the idea that he'd let someone who'd just assaulted him stay under the same roof was ludicrous even for him.

"Why didn't you say anything about it?" I heard him say suddenly and my gaze shifted from the drying blood on his lips and chin up to those sad stormy blue eyes, inside me there was a tick of anger from the look he gave me, all I could do to not show that anger was do what I had always done before and keep my distance, to remain impartial.

"It's none of your business, Kinomiya." I said dryly trying to feign disinterest in the subject, I noticed the sadness in his eyes slowly start to shift to something else, irritation for certain maybe something more.

"Don't you dare say that." He snapped out of nowhere moving away from me before he spoke again

"I'm your friend Kai, seeing you being hurt is 100% my business." He looked me straight in the eye and I couldn't take it anymore, I couldn't take him anymore. His words, he was my friend. My _friend_. Nothing more, and it wasn't his business.

"Excuse me?" I lashed out unable to take his attitude and sense of entitlement. This had always infuriated me about him, how he'd always dig into other peoples business and act as if he'd done something that made him absolutely entitled to know what was going on.

"You vanish for eight years, show up almost entirely out of the blue, find out my relationship isn't exactly orthodox and suddenly you're demanding an explanation as to why I hadn't said anything about it?" I moved to stand in front of him and stare down at him, he met the stare with the same intensity, not backing down, never backing down. Suddenly I saw a flash of something in his eyes.

"You don't get it do you Hiwatari." He snarled in frustration pushing me against the nearest wall forcefully, the emotion in his distinctly morphing into rage as he continued on with his tangent.

"Well let me explain it to you since it's a logic I understand extremely well considering my choice profession." He let go of my shirt moving away from me, turning his back to me and running his hands through his hair his nerves becoming obvious he allowed a disheartened sigh escape his bloody lips

"If you don't help yourself, I can't help you." He spun around again, and our eyes met, and every piece of the puzzle fell into place, and I fell back into yet another old habit, and I fled the scene, leaving him standing there, not looking back at him not willing to see the look on his face, the glint in his eyes.

I rushed through the dojo taking care not to wake anyone up, my mind was in chaos, without the facade I would have openly been a mess, so many emotions I had long since pushed to the bottom were coming boiling to the surface, and one was front and center. Guilt. I couldn't help but not feel an overwhelming sense of guilt from leaving Takao standing there. Guilt for intruding on his life after so long, for messing it up again with my own problems. I'd let my selfishness take over time and time again, and as a result, I forced Takao o pay he price for that.

I moved into the bedroom where I'd been spending the nights, sleeplessly. I came face to face with green eyes, we stared at each other for a moment, staring in total silence. Eventually he pointedly shifted his body to reveal our bags had been packed before he spoke to me.

"We're leaving." The statement was simple, so simple it took me a moment to process it, but internally I supposed I had known this was coming when I had stood outside with Kinomiya, enjoying the late night air.

"I know." I replied matching the simplicity and he continued to stare at my blankly, eventually giving me a short not and turning to latch onto a suitcase handing it wordlessly to me before he grabbed onto his own and silently we left the room as barren as when we'd arrived.

I advanced towards the rental car with the Italian ahead of my by a few paces, he opened the back door haphazardly tossing suitcases inside the vehicle, he grabbed onto my own luggage also throwing it inside, slamming the door opening the driver side and slipping inside. I moved towards the passenger side, as I moved to enter the car I looked up at the dojo catching a glimpse of dark hair standing off to the side watching but not intervening, I looked away almost immediately getting inside the rental when I heard Gabriel rev the engine.

I'd had no idea where we were going so late in the night, nor did it seem Gabriel had any intention to inform me of our travel plans as we sat in silent in the dark car, only the sound of the motor running and the odd car passing us by was heard. I had to assume he probably just pulled from strings with one of the high-end hotels in the area getting us a room until our flight in two days. At some point during the car ride I must have dozed off for the first time since several nights prior when I'd dreamt of Kinomiya in the rain. I vaguely remember a mess of images my mind painted for me of his smile, of his touches, of his smell, of his voice, until I was abruptly pulled from them by the voice of my company.

"We're here." Again it was so simple, lacking it's normal malicious inflections as he cut the engine of the automobile and unhooked his belt before slipping out of the vehicle and heading towards the hotel. In the back of my mind I had a growing gear at how little he seemed to care about what was going on, but perhaps that was all apart of his game. A game he'd been playing for years.

We'd remained in absolute silence until we made it up into the room, however the moment the door closed I saw him turn on his heels and grab onto my shirt much like Takao had done only hours prior and he spoke to me, the words still hollow, still void.

"We need to talk." He didn't loosen his grip on me as he stared into my eyes, waiting for my response, seemingly waiting for what I had to say. I decided to humor him.

"About what?" I said allowing my eyebrow to arch slightly as the mans grip on me loosened and he slowly, seemingly uncertainly pulled away from me allowing his hand to drop to the side.

"You aren't coming back to Italy." He said nonchalantly, not really looking for a reply from me on the matter. I didn't know what to say or how to react to the statement. The man who had haunted and tormented me for seven years, the man who'd abused me and now he was seemingly letting me go, like I was yesterdays news, like I was that toy he was bored of.

But perhaps I was.

It hadn't occurred to me until just now that Gabriel probably was rapidly losing interest in his game with the recent addition of Takao to it, a character so outspoken and unpredictable that guessing his every move was totally impossible unless you were psychic, and that Sattiay was not.

"What makes you say that?" I said, allowing some of the curiosity I was experiencing to leak through in my voice, he laughed, I was taken back by it and noted him approach me and speak in a very low voice

"If I find out you're ever in Italy, if you're ever in my home, Kai..." He trailed off before leaning closer, moving onto his tiptoes to whisper the last part into my ears, to utter the threat I knew wasn't empty.

"...I'll make sure they never find you." He pulled away and that disgusting smile appeared on his lips as he turned and moved towards the other side of the hotel, before adding almost as an afterthought.

"Same goes for the Kinomiya brat for that matter." My jaw clenched when I heard it and my hands curled into fists at my sides, it was taking me all my willpower not to beat the snot out of the man in front of me. After a few moments regaining my composure I spoke to him, attempting to sound collected.

"I have business in Italy." I spoke the words firmly, and he seemed to stop and glance over at me, I couldn't figure out the emotions playing across his eyes.

"I don't believe you do." He said simply moving towards the bathroom and stopping at the door holding onto the handle.

"I'm sure you can see your way out of the hotel. Why don't you go chase stray cats around and brood in the streets like you used to. I need to get a proper rest, I have important and productive things to do in the morning." He sniffed the air, it reminded me of a certain Scotsman I had the misfortune of knowing bu instead of saying anything snide as I would to the McGregor I simply moved back towards the door and exited the hotel not caring to retrieve my luggage, not caring about any of he frivolous necessities most people relied on. This had been my first blatant opening to escape Gabriel Sattiay, and I wasn't going to be a fool and let it pass me by like I had many other things.

I hated to admit that it legitimately bothered me that I had only escaped the man on his terms. I'd only managed another shot at freedom because something, because someone had changed how his game worked, changed all the rules, and in turn, had made him bored of it.

Once again Takao Kinomiya had saved my life, and he probably didn't even know it.

It was a warm night, and perhaps ironically in my new found freedom I had found myself doing exactly as I'd been told. Moving through the cities empty streets in a specific direction wondering if I'd come face to face with an old friend of mine. When I'd arrived in the back alley, I moved right towards a small nook. I could hear small mewls and I couldn't help but smile when I came face to face with a small litter of kittens with their mother, the cat I had fed so long ago.

As I reached out to pet the mother cat, I was drowning in my thoughts of what to do. After over a decade of running from the truth, of running from reality. Could I really so simply disregard everything that had happened and walk into Kinomiya's life expecting it to come entirely natural? No matter how accepting a person he was anything between us wouldn't be easy. It would take work, commitment, effort and probably years. Was I willing to commit to that? Years where I wouldn't be able to run away from him. Years where doing so could be misconstrued as something else, where one small action could have a reaction so severe it ruined everything between us.

Was that worth it?

I felt the cat nip at my fingers noting that I'd stopped petting her at some point during my strenuous thought process. I still didn't have the answers I needed, I still didn't know where to go from here. I felt like an animal that had been raised in captivity all its life being released into the wild. I was overwhelmed, shell shocked even. I'd never truly had my life as my own, I had been a puppet to my grandfather for years, I'd been a slave to my own lust for power, and then I had fallen into a web of deceit. This was truly my first most profound moment of clarity, and I was left in this clarity having no idea what to do with myself as I stood in that back alley stroking the chin of this stray feline as her kittens nursed.

"You clear one obstacle to face many others, huh?" I sighed, speaking to no one in particular but the mother cat meowed seemingly in response to me, a ghost of a smile pressed on my lips as I scratched behind her ears, drowning out my thoughts with the sounds of her purring.

And I suppose what I had never realized was how true that statement really was, how genuine it was. In life everything is an obstacle we must either clear or be hindered by, and even if you succeed in getting past one obstacle there would be many more in your path. The only thing a person could do was meet them head on, to stand in defeat and continue on until they conquered whatever it was in their way. And I suppose what I had never accepted was that for so many years I had never been able to do just that, and that it was one of many reasons I both admired and needed Takao Kinomiya in my life.

So what's this one more obstacle in a world of infinite ones?

_Everything and Nothing._

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><p><strong>All I know is that I <span>should<span>  
>'Cause she will love you more than I could<br>She who dares to stand where I stood **

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><p>I have a love-hate relationship with how this chapter ends, the last sentence is perfect and imperfect in every single way.<p>

The next chapter will be the **last one**.

I'm intending to finish this story when I'm in recovery after surgery, unless I get some major motivation to finish before that.

**Review.**


	11. Day Ten

**Title:** Ten Days

**See first chapter for warnings/disclaimer/pairings/etc.**

**A/N:** The Tenth day marks the end of the ride.

I'm sorry for the over a month wait, between medical school (exams anyone?) and rotations and my own health problems I took my sweet ass time on it. (I'm not sorry.)

I only kind of sort of proofread so if there's typos that is totally my fault and I am a horrible terrible person for not triple checking.

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><p><strong>DAY TEN<strong>

**'Cause baby time has changed nothing at all  
>You're still the only one that feels like home.<br>And I've tried cutting the ropes,  
>I let you go but you're still the only one<br>That feels like home, yeah **

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><p>If some stranger had walked up to me ten days ago and told me that ten days could change my life forever, I would have looked them straight in the eye and asked them if they were insane before shrugging them off and going back to reading some intensive text book attempting to memorize the content, attempting to keep my nerves from fraying and my thoughts from wandering to everything I was about to come face to face with. It would have resulted in me lightly dozing off on the plane. It would have likely ended up me waking abruptly as the plane had started it's uneven descent into the airport, I would have probably ended up apologizing to the passenger sitting beside me as I'd startled them upon awaking.<p>

But ten days ago I was admittedly in denial of what I was really going home to, of who I was going home to. Ten days ago I had just finished writing my third year medical exams and was looking forward to a short break before hospital rotations.

Eight days ago was when everything changed. I don't think I could forget what happened that late spring night at the river, I don't even think the medication they give people to forget memories word prove effective. When hands touched for the first time in so long it was like what I imagine being struck by lightning feels like. One touch was all it took to cause a series of kisses and almost kisses, awkward moments, confrontations, emotions and realizations that had been buried deep so long ago.

It had been a mystery what had pulled me back to beycity after almost eight years running away from the place and the people. It had been a mystery until I had been granted a new found clarity one late night, a blessing amongst many curses perhaps. A smile graced my lips as I was pulled out of my thoughts by a prod to my right hip. My gaze shifted to stare at the oceanic eyes of my blond friend who was sitting beside me in the busy airport, one of many sitting with me likely talking to me and knowing immediately I wasn't listening.

"What are you thinking about, Taka?" I heard Max ask curiosity lacing his eyes as he gazed into my own seemingly searching for something. What he was looking for, I wasn't sure.

"Just thinking about this past week." I replied looking around at all my friends the smile on my face laces with sadness, I looked around the airport expecting to see crimson eyes amongst the crowd of people but knowing that wasn't going to happen. It was almost bittersweet, it was almost overwhelming. That we could come so far and yet nothing had changed, everything would stay the same. Max must have understood the implications in my words as he gave my shoulder a squeeze and pulled me forward into a half hug, I returned it, tears almost spilling free, but not quite.

I heard my flight get called over the PA system and I pulled away from Max and stood up, my friends following me as I moved to grab onto my overnight bag, hoping to some unseen force this wouldn't be hard, but knowing it was going to be almost unbearable. It was Hiromi first to grab onto me and pull me into a tight hug. I heard her speak into my shoulder:

"Don't be a stranger Takao." I heard her sniffle and it became apparent she was crying again, hysterical like she had been the day before when her anger over Kai's vanishing act had subsided. She held onto me with almost death grip waiting for my response, I honestly wasn't sure she'd let go if I didn't reply.

"Hey, hey, I promise, I'll keep in touch this time, okay." I muttered rubbing her back trying to console her, finding it almost surreal that Hiromi was sobbing against my shoulder.

"Besides, if I'm awol for more than I week you can just send chief after me with his super hacking and stalking skills." I teased lightly pulling her away from me and I heard her make a noise between a sob and a laugh.

"We tried that before, you managed to elude us then." She pulled away entirely and wiped her eyes and shaking her head. I chucked as response and grabbed onto her hands pulling her back into a hug.

"That was before I gave you my student email address as well as what university I'm attending." I said against her shoulder hearing her laugh softly, and I continued

"If you don't hear from me in over a month call search and rescue, I may be stuck under my medical books." I said jokingly as I pulled away from her again looking around at the rest of my friends who'd come to see me off. six out of seven, not bad I had to admit to myself, especially when the seventh was never reliable anyway. I moved away from Hiromi and turned to Rei, Mao and Rin.

"Invite me to the next big birthday, yeah." I said and we both chuckled and shared a half embrace and he made some remark about me not being crushed under medical books before her sixth birthday.

After all the hugs were shared and goodbyes were made I made a move towards the security gates to enter into the boarding area. It was almost hard to believe that ten days had gone by so rapidly. It had been just yesterday that Kai and Gabriel had left without a word, something that had sparked fury from Hiromi specifically but obvious agitation in everyone as we had spent the duration of the day lazing around the backyard talking about my plans upon retuning to London. Kenny's eventual wedding planning, which as it turns out Emily is some kind of bridezilla and really anything in between.

I waved behind me and moved to get into the line of people going through the security check when I heard Max call to me causing me to turn around and look at him questioningly. I saw him point off to his left and my vision followed his hand and my eyes stopped when they caught crimson. I had to admit I hadn't expected to see him at the airport, in fact I hadn't expected to see him anytime in the near future. It was almost like I had known when our eyes met briefly as he and Gabriel had left the property that, that was the last time I'd lay eyes on Kai Hiwatari.

"Kai." I said softly as I let my bag fall to the floor beside me and my body moved carrying me towards the taller man on it's own. I didn't stop until I was standing in front of him. Briefly I glanced over towards the others and noticed they seemed to be abruptly departing, perhaps not to intrude on our goodbye, perhaps to gossip and speculate over Kai's sudden arrival without Gabriel.

"Hey." I spoke noting that I sounded something like a shy blushing bride and hoping Kai wouldn't notice or make fun of it, I averted my gaze down to the floor, cursing because this wasn't the time or place to decide to have a lapse in confidence, especially not after our last conversation.

"Hey." I heard him reply in a similar tone which caused a small smile to appear on my lips and I looked up at him, laughing softly, my frayed nerves incredibly apparent. I didn't know what to do, or what to say, and worst of all I didn't know how to say goodbye.

"So you're going back to London then?" He said attempting to seem nonchalant our eyes met and then averted immediately, I did some stupid little foot shuffle before I finally gathered my composure enough to speak:

"Yeah. I have rotations at the hospital, you know, medical school and all that." I tried to make it sound like the conversation wasn't forced, but truthfully it was, and I knew he could tell, everyone probably could.

"I should probably be going... my flight isn't going to wait and I need to do the security check, so I'll see you around yeah?" I said suddenly moving to turn away from him and make my way towards the gate but before I could make any distance Kai's hand moved and latched onto my forearm pulling my back towards him, and more shockingly pulling me into an embrace, it caused me to freeze up.

"Gabriel and I aren't together anymore." He mumbled against my forehead as he remained there holding me unmoving. It took me a minute to comprehend what he was saying but when he did I jerked upward bumping my head against his nose causing him to pull back slightly and our eyes met.

"Y-you aren't?" I said stuttering and not exactly caring how obvious my nerves were suddenly because when I understood those words I felt a flutter in my stomach but as quickly as I felt that elation, that happiness, I fell back to reality. It wasn't that simple. It was never that simple.

He shook his head in response a ghost of a smile gracing his lips which caused me to smile slightly in return. I leaned slightly in to him, resting my head against his chest and sighing, a sigh between sadness, frustration and happiness.

"It's not that easy though is it?" I muttered bitterly moving my hands to meet with his own, listening to his heart beat. Hearing another call for my flight over the PA system, knowing this moment was going to have to end soon.

"Life isn't easy." Was Kai's response, good old typical realistic Kai, to rain on my parade instead of consoling me in my misery and telling me it would be alright. I pulled back from where I rested and our eyes met again.

"I have to go, my flight boards in five minutes." I mumbled looking over my shoulder at my discarded bag and the security area.

"I know." Was his reply as our hands separated and I stood in front of him, fighting back tears knowing that no matter what he said, I still had to leave, I still had an entire life back in London that I had to live, a life filled with responsibilities. I moved to grab my bag where I'd left it, noting that he was following me towards the security check.

"I... I finish school next year." I started after I'd picked up the discarded overnight bag slinging it back over my shoulder. I turned towards him, trying to get some emotion from his face, I wasn't disappointed, I was able to distinguish confusion through the mask.

"I guess what I'm saying is that I could try to find some residency programs in the area instead of doing my residency in London." I said, noting that he seemed to understand what I was getting at. That maybe, just maybe when I finished medical school, I could come back here and we could pick up from this point, and move forward. Twelve months that he could have to work out the left over issues pertaining to Gabriel, twelve months.

"So twelve months, a year." He said suddenly bringing me out of my thoughts, I watched him trying to pick up on his thoughts of the idea. But to my dismay, I couldn't decipher his thoughts.

"Yes. Twelve months." I said nodding my head nervously looking at him internally pleading for him to say something else, to do something that made it apparent how he felt about the idea, as the seconds passed by I started to get discouraged until I felt him grab onto my arm and pull me forward, not close enough to be touching, not close enough to be am embrace, but close enough that his lips were ghosting against my ear, eventually his whispered into my ear:

"I'll see you in twelve months." The words caused me to break out into a smile and I looked up at him again not caring anymore if tears fell from my eyes, ignoring the people in the line waiting for security check pass me in the line. I felt him move his lips away from my ear and he leaned in to kiss my forehead softly before pulling away and giving me the once over. I heard him snort.

"Don't be such a crybaby Kinomiya. It's not becoming of you." I heard him jeer, out of reflex I rolled my eyes and pushed him backwards away from me, just like I would have when we were teenagers.

I saw that trademark Hiwatari smirk grace his lips and I grinned in return, he shook his head and turned around without another word to exit the airport, his hand raised to acknowledge me, a silent goodbye, a silent promise just like he did so many years ago in the frigid climate of Siberia on that war torn ice.

And for the first time in ten years I didn't regret even a little leaving Beycity because I knew that this was the right thing to do, and that my life had finally found the right path to venture forward on.

And I never looked back because there wasn't any point in doing so.

Not when everything I desired stood so clearly in my path ahead.

* * *

><p><strong>You're still the only one that feels like home,<br>You're still the only one I've gotta love. **

* * *

><p>THE END.<p>

I really love the ending of this story, and I knew this was how it was going to end as I was writing the third chapter.

I'm leaving this story opened because I have an idea for a sequel, however I'm intending to work on some other beyblade stories as well as some original projects for a while. If I write a sequel (and I think I just might) you can expect it around the end of the year. (assuming the world doesn't end, you know.)

This is a short end to a short story, and **I would totally appreciate reviews**.

**Finally:** I want to thank those who watched, liked, reviewed the story and additionally want to thank my friend Bljad for his help on the story and psychology.


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